Keep Watch
by HourGlass8
Summary: A story request: when Orochimaru messes up on an experiment he is forced to seek the help of Kakashi. Now being stuck in his childhood form the Sannin joins team seven as he awaits for the copy ninja to help him return to normal. However the Jonin has other plans of allowing the Sannin to remain young and to grow up walking a different path.
1. Everything but according to plan

Authors note: This is a story request made by the lovely Vampiredoll666 who has always left me such lovely reviews for all my stories. Thank you so much for the support I hope you enjoy the story you requested., I will try to make it in the way you described it. It will probably be a short 5-6 chapter fic. Enjoy!

Extended Summary: Orochimaru messes up with his eternal youth experiment. He is aged down too much and seeks out someone who he trusts. Kakashi agrees to watch him for while he is so vulnerable, pretending Orochimaru himself is merely the son of Orochimaru, Kakashi is allowed to keep the genin on team seven under his watchful care. Orochimaru wants to find a way back to normal, but Kakashi has other plans. He wishes to see the boy have the childhood he never got. He wants to change him in to a loyal Konoha ninja, hoping that a better upbringing will achieve that.

 _"_ _Children must be taught how to think, not what to think."_

Kakashi looked over at the raven haired male beside him, he looked troubled about something, he always was he supposed. Reaching over to run a hand through his black strands the copy ninja caught the brooding Sannin's attention.

"It should have worked," Orochimaru said throwing golden eyes at his lover with annoyance.

"You'll get it eventually," Kakashi replied.

"That's not true. I could very well die before I make my break through," Orochimaru said back.

"You don't have a high track record of dying," Kakashi joked back as he moved away from the log they sat on in the warm clearing of grass. The sun was warming the area and it was making the copy ninja rather lazy, he sighed when he realized the other would certainly never find himself looking to be still for even a moment. The Sannin was calm, but he had energy. He had too much at times.

"Neither does anyone still living technically," Orochimaru retorted as he watched the others movements calculatingly. "Had a rough day?"

"Just tired, the usual," Kakashi replied as he settled on to the grassy field his arms crossed under his head. He looked up at the clouds passing over the sky and breathed out calmly. Life was stressful as a ninja, it was certainly a much nicer feeling being able to remain at ease.

"Perhaps I simply missed a step," Orochimaru said as his mind jumped back to his original issue. "I'll see you tomorrow. I'm going to go try again."

"Must you experiment on yourself Oro-chan?" Kakashi asked looking over at his lover, the feminine other now upside down in his sights. Orochimaru nodded.

"Of course, how else am I to do it," he said. "Don't worry, I'll meet you here same place same time. If I don't come then you can worry."

"That makes me feel so much better," Kakashi said with a slightly unimpressed stare.

"It's the best I can offer you my dear," Orochimaru said, he got up from his position and elegantly swooped over to the larger man, dropping to one knee gracefully he pecked his lover on the forehead before moving towards the thicker part of the woods.

Kakashi allowed himself to stay in the sun for a few more minutes, he supposed if the Sannin was going back to work he should be doing the same. Then again, the serpent only ever had two modes, work or… now that he thought about it… that was it. He was an over achiever and he was determined to get done what needed doing. Ambitious wasn't a good enough word to describe it for that matter. He sighed before lifting his still lazy form from the ground, turning back to the great fire nation. He had to check up on his genin anyway, they were all trouble.

Sasuke had something buried deep inside him, and that made him something the copy ninja needed to check on. At the same time Sakura was so in awe of the boy she would do anything he said, it brought about its own risks. Then there was Naruto. He didn't need to explain why the fox child was trouble. He picked up his pace and headed to the village, he had recently been given his team, they had just succeeded in their challenge of retrieving the bells. They would be going on missions with one another sooner than they realized. Naruto would undoubtedly complain about its low rank, despite the fact that he was hardly a stand out prodigy. The gates of his home came in to view and he ducked around people as he made his way through the busy streets. Then he heard the sound he dreaded the most.

"Beat it you brat!" the man yelled, then the blond boy came racing around the corner with something stolen in his mouth. Kakashi raised one hand effortlessly and caught the out of control boy. Naruto yelped and dropped the piece of dango he had tried to escape with.

"Kakashi-sensei!" He moaned loudly, he had always been impressed with the man's natural abilities and looked up to him, but he never appreciated his illegal doings being stopped.

"Kakashi, sorry for inconveniencing you," The man stumbled over his words.

"It really is no problem," Kakashi said casually as he watched Naruto defeatedly hand the item back to the man. The stall was only a few steps behind them and the copy ninja moved over to it before picking up a new dango stick. He paid for two despite only taking one, the stolen stick was on the floor and no longer able to be eaten. Kakashi handed a new one to the blond child after paying for both the accidental purchase and the one he was giving to the orphan.

"Thanks Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto said happily, it seemed to mean a bit more to the genin than it should have. Almost as if the sentiment behind receiving something out of another's care was worth more than the pricey treat itself.

"Don't steal again," Kakashi warned. "That's not how true shinobi do things."

"I won't," Naruto said, he wanted to follow him but then he decided he would probably mess up his new found bond with his new found mentor. Kakashi wouldn't have minded, he was more interested in maintaining his teams morale than in catching a few quiet moments. He watched the blue eyed boy dart off in to the village, he had too much energy as well. It was almost as if the copy ninja could not get away from the demanding members of society.

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"Orochimaru-sama," Kabuto called as he walked through the dimly lit base, he had spoken to the other male hours before, he knew he worked for long sessions at time but even now he decided he would check up on the Sannin. He pushed the door open knowing full well the serpent wouldn't be awfully impressed with the interruption. However the room was empty, to make matters weirder there seemed to be broken vials littering the floor where someone had either been attacked or had lost their mind. Kabuto pushed his glasses back on to his face and stepped fully in to the room.

"Orochimaru-sama?" he asked almost irritably. There was always something happening when the Sannin was involved. He never managed to catch a break it seemed, he breathed out and looked around the room for something to make sense of what was around him. It was completely empty so he left to sense for where the powerful rogue was. The base, he found out, was as empty at the room.

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Orochimaru stumbled through the forest, he couldn't describe how he felt. Physically he could perhaps, but the emotions running through his head was too much to explain in simple words. He had realized he was in danger the minute he heard the silver haired man call to him. _Sama_. It would be a joke to call him that when he was so young, he needed to go to someone he trusted. He had only been with the copy ninja for a year, he wondered if that was enough time to base his trust off. He raced across the water that lay ahead of him, he got over the first few steps but then one of his feet broke through the water. He caught himself moments before he completely submerged, he stood up again. He was half wet now and he looked at the unsettled water, his own reflection gazed back. His young features, he looked twelve. And since he had always looked younger for his age he looked even more pitifully young. He brushed his long hair out his face, it was a lot longer now that he had aged down from his original form. When he was twelve years old before it came down just past his shoulders, now it passed his waist. It splayed around him gracefully as he sat on the top of the water and looked at himself. His golden eyes stared at the unnatural reflection somewhat lost, he wanted to be young again, but not that young. He had overdone his experiment, he had messed up to the point of no return. He had spent hours in his lab trying to undo it but now he knew that wasn't possible.

He felt the need to simply sit there and sulk, to wait for someone else to come along and tell him what he needed to do. _Adult supervision_? He snapped himself out of it, he may look like a child but he wasn't one mentally. Despite what he said he knew that wasn't entirely true. He had aged himself down meaning his mind was theoretically that of a twelve year old. Even though his memory was not altered his way of thinking certainly was. He picked himself up and continued towards the field, it was early, he would be there when the clearing was dark. He would sleep under the stars he decided, as he did not want to risk going back to the hideout. He didn't know what Kabuto would do when he discovered his leader was now completely powerless. There were too many opportunities lying in apprehending the weakened Sannin. He reached the opening of vast grass and walked to the log. He slumped down against it and tried to see how his chakara was handling the change. It felt stable and he had no issues controlling it. What he did notice however was it seemed less potent, it felt as if he had less to use, the amount his small form could handle now limited.

He sighed and looked up at the moon shining down on his pale features, his porcelain skin shone straight back up at it. The clothes he wore were too big and they drowned him with the overly long sleeves and billowy openings. The purple ribbon he had decided to leave behind. It wasn't practical, he was a small adult, feminine in stature, as a child he was that much smaller. He looked awfully fragile he admitted, he then wondered if he could manage the same abilities he could when he was an adult. He got to his feet to attempt a few of them. He felt lighter, which was fun to play around with. Other than that however he felt less in control of his movement. He flipped around the area testing out his skills, his serpents obeyed him without question. They could tell he was changed, but that did not alter their will to help him in battle. Besides, he had made the contract with them when he was far younger than twelve. He grew tired quicker than he would have in his adult form, so he sat back in the grass to rest. A large python slipped over his lap as it curiously inspected him.

"I messed up," he stated aloud. He wasn't sure it was because he wanted to actually inform the summoning that could not reply, or if he wanted to make sure he truly realized what he had done. Feeling overwhelmed he drew his legs to his chest and hugged his arms around them before burrowing his face in the material. The snake moved off him when he moved abruptly and then circled his shoulders. He let his golden eyes peer out from his hidden posture to see the snakes uncaring eye. It didn't see the complication, it figured the Sannin was still able to walk, talk, breathe and eat. In its eyes he had nothing to complain about. Usually he would not allow himself to wallow in self pity, he lacked the ability to control himself in this form he realized. The cold air blew past and he shivered violently in the harsh weather. He wondered if perhaps he shouldn't rather go to the copy ninja himself. Instead, since he feared the villagers seeing him, he chose to send a messenger snake. He went to a tree and retrieved his Kusangi, in his smaller form the prospect of a snake slipping from his mouth freaked him out. He opted to never sheath his sword in the same manner, he would do it the normal way. The blade was heavy in his hand, the powerful metal now too much for him. He let it fall to dust upon command as he had done thousands of times.

He would rely on normal weaponry until he turned back he decided, he took out a kunai and used it to slice off a thick piece of bark. He then carved the words of his location and signed his name on it. Hopefully the man would know what to do and would come immediately. He gave the message to a serpent which would make quick work of the forest, it instantly sped off to do as told. He went back to the log he had moved away from and then deciding he felt too vulnerable in the open he climbed a tree and sat in its branches. He was hidden in the leaves as he sat waiting for the other to arrive, he would make certain it was him before emerging. Time passed and for a fleeting moment the boy wondered if the other would ever come. Finally a figure appeared in the clearing, he had a rather tense disposition, he was likely worried. Hopping out the tree the boy rushed over to him. Kakashi drew a kunai when the figure approached. He was expecting to see the shadowy form of the Sannin, who was taller than his childhood self. Kakashi slashed his kunai down when the boy arrived by him, he had the blade stop just before slipping through the flesh of his neck. Orochimaru yelped and fell before the man.

"Stop-it's me-don't," Orochimaru blurted out in a small voice.

"Orochimaru?" Kakashi said in confusion, the golden eyes were unmistakable. The boy got to his feet somewhat gracefully despite his young size. His long hair blew in the wind and a small shiver raced down his spine. "What happened?"

"I messed up with my experiments," he said shyly. He didn't understand why he felt so inferior now, he had reverted back to his child self completely. He lacked his usual confidence, he lacked his assurance in his words. As it stood he almost felt slightly threatened by the copy ninja. He knew the man well, they knew one another well, but the power balance was gone. The white haired Jonin was weaker in terms of jutsu compared to the Sannin, but in physical size he was far more competent. Now he beat the boy in both, it was unbalanced, he was at his complete mercy. Orochimaru looked down his bright eyes averted from the others stare. Kakashi didn't know how to react, he checked the field for something to go off. He then ran a hand through his hair as the moonlight bounced off it.

"How can I help?" He asked. The boy threw expecting eyes at him.

"I was hoping you would know," Orochimaru said. Kakashi then realized his dilemma. The child was looking for guidance as younger ninja often did, generally it was the serpent who issued commands. Now it was very different, he didn't know what to do and he lacked the confidence to make decisions.

"We can try undo what's done," Kakashi said. "Where is your lab?"

"I don't know if it's safe there," Orochimaru said honestly. "Kabuto may not be as willing to help me."

Kakashi watched him wearily, he could bring him back home but that was one of the biggest risks he could think of. Everyone would want him dead if they found out the infamous rogue was so terribly vulnerable. He couldn't help but wonder if they would bring themselves to actually harm him when he appeared the way he did. He looked up with bright innocent eyes, shy and subdued before a fight had even been initiated. He wondered how such a meek boy would grow in to the cold calculated rogue. Then he realized it made complete sense, the world had treated the kind and willing child badly, it had made him forced to change, it had made him grow cold to adapt to the outside weather.

"I'll take you back to my house for now, we can work out what to do from there," Kakashi said as he watched the boys tentative movements. He was so different now, his small size and timid nature almost made the copy ninja compelled to carry him home, almost thinking if he walked too much he may very well break. Since the boy still had his memory he decided not to, the rule went that the younger the snake the more unpredictable. Kakashi started walking and the boy followed seamlessly. He had no hang ups following it appeared, the Sannin generally preferred to either be beside the man or in front of him, he had a strange habit of taking control in a lot of manners, but now he was easily playing in to the follower role.

They did not walk through the gates, there were guards positioned there for all hours of the day. He snuck him over the high wall, he expected to see the boy fail as the copy ninja's team seven genin often did. At their age controlling themselves to the extent of a true ninja was not possible. But glancing back over his shoulder he noticed the pale boy had no issues meeting him at the top, it then dawned on the man that the Sannin, all three of them, had started training at the young age of six years old. He was double that age and so would most likely be rather advanced in his techniques. It was no wonder he was still able to meet a high standard of jutsu. Kakashi leapt down the other side all the while throwing protective eyes over his shoulder. Orochimaru did not miss a step as he walked exactly where the other placed his feet. He looked like a yearling deer, sticking as close to the adult figures side as it placed one uncertain foot after the other inside the older figures footprints. When Kakashi stopped moving the boy threw curious and trusting eyes at the man, waiting to see why they had stopped and never once truly questioning his motives for doing so. They got to his door and he opened soundlessly to make sure no neighbouring ninja came to check up on his early morning departure. They switched the lights on and closed the curtains so no one could see them but so that they could fully see one another.

Orochimaru still had a _guide me_ expression on his face, one he wore so well and yet never used to wear at all. His golden eyes moved across the room, he never visited the copy ninja in his home as he was an enemy to the nation. This was his first time inside, he jumped and skittered away when something moved behind him. Pakkun was the first dog to show himself as he sniffed the boy, he wasn't fooled, he knew it was the infamous rogue and not the lost child he appeared to look like.

"Kakashi what is this?" the dog asked with half closed eyes.

"It's him as I'm sure you know. We need to find a way to make him return to normal," Kakashi said.

"How did it happen?" Pakkun asked.

"In his lab, he was doing an experiment I presume," Kakashi answered after noticing the shy boy was not about to do so for himself.

"Then there will only be one way to undo it," Pakkun stated honestly. "You'll have to go back to your lab and reverse the chemical that made you that way."

"He can't go back. He doesn't think Kabuto or any of the other members of his village will listen to him," Kakashi said. They were all rogues, most had an undying loyalty, but they were as unpredictable as the snake Sannin had been when he was his usual self.

"Then don't go back to your lab, use one of the many in Konoha," Pakkun said.

"We'll be seen," Orochimaru said slightly worriedly, black strands had curtained his young face but never managed to shield the light of his eyes.

"Not much we can do about that I'm afraid," the dog said bluntly. "You'll just have to be careful. If no one sees you you'll be on your way back home in no time… that is if this can be undone at all."

"We have a few hours before light," Kakashi said. "If we want to get away unseen we should go now."

He turned his lights off and opened the door, he didn't enjoy being in the laboratories, they had a sense of illegal doings even in the watchful eyes of Konoha's laws. They made their way back out in to the city, the small dog deciding to accompany them to make sure he would sense another ninja coming dare they arrive. He didn't have much care for the Sannin, but he owed his master every bit of help. That, and looking at the boys helpless disposition made him feel compelled to get it all over with. He didn't need the guilt trip of the small shinobi. They reached the labs and as suspected Jonin littered the front doors to make sure random people did not simply walk in. There were even a few ANBU ninja keeping an eye out for unwelcomed guests. Orochimaru stuck close to the others side, he knew what lay in those halls. The men would not wait for a command to kill him, but perhaps there was one person he could go to for help. It was most peoples last call for help, as there wasn't a soul alive who trusted the man. But the Sannin had grown up by him, he had worked for him, the man owed the boy. It wasn't a guarantee he would honour that, but it was the best he could do.

"We could ask Danzo for help," Orochimaru whispered, small hands tugging on the man's sleeve. Pakkun gave him a look of disgust, the copy ninja one of confusion. He was forced to elaborate. "He owes me, I used to help him and besides, I know things he doesn't want others to know. He couldn't expose me without exposing himself."

"Are you sure Oro-chan?" Kakashi asked. The boy nodded and for a moment his old assurance passed his slitted eyes. Taking it as a cue to listen the Jonin went to the gates and requested the leader speak to him, the ninja were not suspicious, Danzo was in all natures shady. Unexpected visits were no longer unexpected. Two of the ANBU shinobi slipped inside the building until a painful ten minutes later they returned with the bandaged up man. Why he was up and about was of no concern to the copy ninja, he knew the man preferred working in the darkness. It screamed future issues but it was not his job to come about trying to change that.

"Can I speak to you in private Danzo-sama?" he asked. He did not for a second respect the man, but he respected the system and that called for him issuing a proper title.

"You may. Leave us," Danzo said, the shinobi around him did not appear happy leaving their leader without any means of protection, but they obeyed him silently. Once they were gone Kakashi looked behind him to call the boy out form hiding. Orochimaru slipped out of his hiding place and came to stand by the copy ninjas side, the dog dismally followed as he glared at the oldest shinobi. Danzo did not show expression, but a moment of utter confusion passed his face.

"Who is this boy?" He asked.

"It's me," Orochimaru said honestly, his young voice could not demand respect and so he didn't try.

"I didn't know you wished to remain _so_ young Orochimaru," Danzo said trying to remain formal.

"I didn't and I'd like your help getting back to normal," Orochimaru said, he struggled to meet eyes with the man. He didn't like it, his old pride wanted to resurface but new anxiety replaced it and suffocated the possibility entirely.

"For old times' sake I suppose," Danzo murmured. He then turned sharply towards his lab as he somewhat rudely gestured for them to follow. They did as they had no room to start barking orders, they needed him and he did not in any way need them. Orochimaru seemed to recognise the places they were, although he kept quiet about it and still made no move to take a leading stance of matters. Kakashi could only assume the adult him was dying inside of the new him who had taken his own body hostage. It must have been strange to be controlled by his weaker self. They got to a room where Danzo told them to be seated, he then only asked for the Sannin to come with him. The copy ninja wouldn't trust the man with his own life let alone the boys.

"I'll come too," Kakashi insisted.

"If you want my help I suggest you do as I say. I will not tolerate you nosing through my business, be seated," Danzo snapped with a fixed gaze holding the younger man to his spot. The copy ninja looked at the boy but he did not appear too nervous going alone with the elder. Knowing Kakashi was scared for him the boy smiled in his usual slightly shy way.

"I'll be fine," he said in his small voice.

They left the white haired Jonin behind to his dismay, the dog was more than happy no longer following the man he detested, he wanted to merely get everything over with so that they could leave. Time almost seemed to stand still, and it was no wonder, before they knew it the sun was starting to rise. Along with the sun the copy ninja's nerves and worry also arose, where was the boy, what was taking so long? Finally the door opened, but the boy looked troubled and almost emotionally wounded when he came out.

"Nothing is working I'm afraid," Danzo admitted. "We can try again, but I will have people in and out my labs for the next few days. In that time we must find a way to safe keep him."

"How can we do that? He can't hide in his own base and someone is bound to see him here," Kakashi said.

"I don't know, pass him off as someone else," Danzo said. "Tell the Third you found him injured somewhere and took him in, Do what you will, but I do not recommend trying to hide him. Plain sight can often be the way to go about things."

"Pass him off as whom? Not exactly the most plain looking boy we could have stumbled upon," Pakkun said. "Yellow eyes and purple markings, long black hair, pale skin. Everyone will find out."

"I don't think anyone will guess he is the Sannin himself. Perhaps you should pretend he is the child of Orochimaru. That's more plausible," Danzo offered. Kakashi thought it over.

"Will Hokage-same not know he looks too much like he did when he was a child? Surely children don't look identical to their parents to this degree, it may be less plausible," Kakashi admitted.

"Change his hair, give him proper clothes and perhaps he won't look like a spitting image. It's been a while since Hiruzen has even seen the boy. He may not notice it to be overly similar," Danzo said, he checked over at a clock and seemed edgy to leave. "We can try this again in a week's time let's say. Until then do not disturb me, I will find you if I find a way to undo this."

Kakashi watched the man lead them out, he wasn't pleased with the idea. It had thousands of risks attached and he did not want to risk the boys life hiding in plain sight. He was out of other plans and he understood what Danzo had meant about it being impossible to keep him hidden when every land held a threat in it. Not to mention Kakashi had genin to look after, he would have to leave the boy alone at times and that sounded like the worst plan he could think of. Danzo did not stop once they reached the exit, Kakashi wondered where the man was leading them. Since it was early hours few people were around if any and they were too busy to pay attention to the ninja. He eventually noticed that the copy ninja wasn't catching on to his plan, and how should he have, the man gave no inclination as to what it was.

"I'm going to Hiruzen to tell him who we found," Danzo said. "You should go make him slightly different to how he used to look, _then_ meet me in his office."

"Of course," Kakashi said, as if the plan had been established beforehand. He took the boy in to a store that had just opened, he made him wait outside where the woman at the desk could not see him but where the copy ninja himself could causally glance out the window to check what size the boy would need clothing wise. He took a few moments before taking a lilac kimono off the rack and placing it on the desk with a black rope to tie it closed. It had spiralling markings that looked similar to the positioning of snakes. Perhaps that was why he chose it.

He left the store the woman giving him a curious look, she knew the man as he was well respected, she also knew he did not have children of his own. She must have thought it a gift and she handed it to him with a smile. He exited the store and handed the attire to the boy who held on to it until they got home where he moved in to a different room to put it on. He came out feeling even more strange than he had, that dissatisfied look was held truthfully on his young face. Kakashi refrained from laughing at his border line pout, it wouldn't do the boys pride any justice, not that he seemed to be displaying any of that past pride at all.  
"Right, your hair," Kakashi said marking off the errands as a checklist in his head.

"I don't trust you with my hair," Orochimaru said.

"Can't take you to a professional. They might notice it's you," Pakkun said. Orochimaru gave the copy ninja a troubled expression, almost pleading the man to think of something else. Since he couldn't Kakashi tried to convince him. He didn't realize the boy was less than keen on putting up a fight, so when he tried to guide him to a chair he simply obeyed somewhat sadly. It had Kakashi feeling much worse, he was used to the other being up for any challenge, he would make his mind up and that was that. It would take a lot more than a simple hand movement to make him obey. Now he did so too quickly, subdued within seconds. The young boy sat on the chair with easily noticeable tension, his yellow eyes full of apprehension. The copy ninja decided he may not be the man for the job after all.

"What are you doing?" Pakkun asked with a suspicious glint in his gaze.

"Maybe we can just tie it up differently. There will be no need to cut anything," Kakashi said, the worried boy seemed to be less nervous now that plans had changed. His small hands lay in his lap as he watched Kakashi scan his apartment. He certainly had nothing he could use to tie up or do anyone's hair, his was short and he did not have any females or long haired males living by him. He sighed and then asked the two to wait for him before disappearing out the room. When he returned he had a small bag in hand which almost seemed awkwardly carried, he put it on the chair beside the Sannin.

"Where'd you get that?" Pakkun asked sniffing it. He knew once he had caught the scent. "Stealing from your own genin?"

"I didn't steal it, I asked her permission," Kakashi said.

"What did she think of her full grown teacher asking for hair equipment?" Pakkun asked, he never looked amused.

"I said I needed it for a friend," Kakashi replied.

"And she believed you. Sakura isn't stupid, she is going to be questioning you the entire training session," Pakkun said with a yawn, he then watched as Kakashi tried to grasp what he would need to do. Orochimaru wanted to let him take the reins, but it was painfully obvious it was not his forte.

"I can do it," Orochimaru said, he knew when he was younger he had shoulder length hair that simply hung down loosely.

Now that he had hair down to his waist he knew he already looked different, he took a hairband and tied some of it up behind his head so that it hung down in a tail like manner. Some if it still hung around his face framing his innocent features. Kakashi admired how efficient the boy was, he still had an air of knowing what he was doing even though he did not want to do it himself if given the chance. They headed to the Hokage's office and the boy could feel his body tense once again nervously. What if he was found out? What if his teacher would want him dead? What if he didn't want anything to do with him, and ignored the fact that he was pretending to be his own child and decided to rather kill him anyway? They reached the doors, many eyes fell to him when they walked, not many recognised him but the few that did wouldn't stop staring. They headed up the long staircase until they reached the large door which almost had the boy turning away. It was strange, as that same door used to be a safe haven in his younger days. Kakashi could see he was hesitant.

"I won't let anything happen Oro-chan," He said.

With the comforting words the boy ducked in closely behind the copy ninja. He met eyes with Danzo who looked calm as usual, then back to the man at the desk. Hiruzen held a warm expression.

"Come in," He said the smile still held to his lips. "I'm Hiruzen, protector of the village. For so long as you stay with us, you have my protection too."

Orochimaru felt eased at his kindness, he knew Hiruzen was at the very least fond of children. If he hadn't acted in utter concern it was unlikely he believed the boy to be a threat. The boy nodded with a lack of words.

"How old are you- Oro-chan was it?" He looked at Kakashi, he must have heard him say it. Maybe it was for the best, he hadn't thought of a name. Orochimaru seemed once again reluctant to reply so he allowed Kakashi to step in.

"He has forgotten all his memories. We took to calling him that until he remembers," Kakashi lied. The Hokage nodded.

"Do you remember your age?" Hiruzen asked calmly.

"I think I'm about twelve," Orochimaru said honestly, it wasn't a lie, he didn't know exactly how old he was since it was by the hands of his mess up.

After a few more questions, most of which the Sannin assumed Hiruzen only asked out of pure curiosity, Kakashi made his long awaited request.

"I would like to take him on to my team if I may," Kakashi said. "All the teams are full, and he has more than enough talent to be on a squad. He will get bored working with the ninja his age, and that isn't safe given his background. Not to mention we need to keep a constant watch on him for obvious reasons."

"How will you handle four genin? One of which holds the Kyubi much to your knowledge; the other an Uchiha, being the last of his clan. I feel you're already in over your head," Hiruzen said with some concern echoing his words.

"A power balance," Danzo interrupted. "After all having one troublesome member on the team can lead to bullying, which is prone at this age. If there are three strong fighters the odds are there will be no room for side picking or for over stepping lines."

"Sakura-chan may be out of her depth then," Hiruzen said.

"You underestimate her," Kakashi said honestly. "She will help me keep order over the boys."

The memory of Tsunade passed through the old mans thoughts, truth be told if she was anything like the blond girl the boys would most certainly be the ones out of their depth no matter what demons lurked inside them. He nodded.

"All right, I will allow it for so long as it works. Redo the bell challenge to assess how the dynamics of the team will work practically. I will give your team a mission only once everything is confirmed to be sorted," Hiruzen said. Kakashi thanked him, he knew that would be much to Naruto's dismay, he wanted action, he was done training he had proclaimed. The other genin teams would be leaving on missions while he would be redoing a past exercise. It would be no small challenge to convince him it was required.

"Thank you Hokage-sama," Kakashi said. "I will keep you updated."

"Please do," Hiruzen said, he allowed the boy and the copy ninja to leave but stopped them at the door with his final words. "And Oro-chan, if you need anything at all, I am your Hokage. Don't hesitate to ask. I am more forgiving than you may think, and if I may be given a chance to prove that don't think twice about coming to me."

"Thank you Hokage-sama," The boy said his young voice rather confident when confronting the man. Perhaps he still did not feel as if he should fear his teacher, he fell back in to his past self, trusting the man who had practically raised him when he was orphaned.

"How do you think the genin will treat him?" Danzo asked.

"This years group is untainted by war and holds more compassion than any of the others. Let it be so that he is finally accepted," Hiruzen said.

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"No! I did it once I'm not doing it again!" Naruto said. He then felt something hard hit him and he sulked a look over at the pink haired girl.

"There is a reason idiot. Let Sensei finish," She snapped.

"Were we not supposed to go on a mission today?" Sasuke asked.

"Things have changed. We have a new edition to the team," Kakashi said, that earned all the genins attention.

"But we already have the maximum amount," Sasuke said.

"The standard is three, but today we made an exception. He is a year younger but he holds more skill than a genin," Kakashi said. "he needs to pass the chunin exam as all of you do, which means he has to fall a part of a team. Our team was allocated this."

"Who is he? Another boy? Can't we have a girl?" Naruto said, he seemed eager to meet the new person his moods much like that of a puppy. His honesty in his emotions were plain to see from miles away, his voice never masking any of that feeling either.

"He is a boy yes," Kakashi said, "Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, this is Oro."

Orochimaru entered the training field once he had been summoned by the other man. His long hair elegantly danced behind him in the wind as it trailed down his back. The other members took a moment to actually believe what their eyes were showing them. The golden slitted eyes held them momentarily captivated.

There were few genin who had anything that screamed different, but this boy was notably in every way unique to the other children. Markings were normal, but the slitted yellow in colour eyes were very much not, he looked a lot like a girl and the pale complexion he had made him look that much more like porcelain.

"Are you human?" Naruto said without thinking. He hadn't meant it rudely of course, he was not rude by nature, bratty and unruly, but not unkind. Sakura seemed to be awaiting an answer almost also asking the question in her own silent way while Sasuke seemed disinterested in the trivial fact and rather wondered what skill the new addition held.

"Naruto," Kakashi warned. He wouldn't have expected it from the blond boy but he supposed he should have. Comments such as those rolled off the long haired boys back, after all people had asked him that question to death. He had meant to reply in his usual nonchalant way indicating he really didn't care what they thought, but his voice betrayed him. Once again the inner child he now was got a say before he did. His voice sounded slightly offended and made no grasp to achieve uncaringness. It was very obvious he had been wounded by the comment but was now trying to pass it off.

"I am human," he said, but it was his voice that gave it all away, his voice and his injured bright eyes that momentarily faded in to something dimmer.

"You're really pretty I mean," Naruto blabbed out, he was trying to rectify his mistake. He had no problems with the others appearance, he was just curious. "I wanted a girl, you pretty much look like one anyway."

He got punched by a merciless force as Sakura's temper flared. He yelped and held his head where he had now sustained damage, she quietly reprimanded him out of everyone else's earshot but the blond seemed rather ready to be good.

"So what are we doing?" Sasuke asked his teacher growing bored with where the conversation was leading. Kakashi looked down at the tempered Uchiha, he had reason to be the bitter boy he was, he had watched his parents and entire clan die by the hand of the one person he trusted the most. It was not an easy upbringing, not that many shinobi got the luxury of a good childhood. His eyes fell to the snake summoner, he most certainly had told the copy ninja a few stories form his past. They were dark, they were sad and they gave him reason to understand why he too became cold to the world. If only people got second chances he mused. The golden eyes boy met his gaze, perhaps some people did. What if changing him back was not possible, but what if a new start was.

"Sensei?" Sasuke said looking mildly disturbed. Kakashi snapped his attention back, he had been wrapped up in his own thoughts, the snake child had tried to read in to those thoughts as the man had been directly looking at him.

"Right," Kakashi said. "We are doing the same as last time."

He outstretched his hand from his pocket revealing three bells. Naruto let out a disappointed sigh and then proceeded to explain his dismay. He had been the one who had been strapped to a log, it had been he who had failed. Then his eyes lit up. Maybe this time he could be the first to attain a bell.

"Let's do it!" Naruto said, switching in almost the same sentence from annoyed to keen.

"Keep that spirit. The person who doesn't get a bell this time will not be allowed on our first team mission. It will be dangerous so only the best of you four will be allowed for the first time," Kakashi said, they then parted ways as the genin were allowed to choose what they would do.

"I'm not getting left behind," Naruto said. "If you get in my way you'll regret it."

He aimed his sentence at the Uchiha. Sakura passed worried eyes but the Sannin spoke first.

"It's not about that. Didn't you do this already? It's about assessing us as a team and how we function. No one will get left behind and the mission we will be put on will be no more dangerous than any of the other genin teams. We need to work together to get the bells so that we pass the exercise," Orochimaru said, Naruto seemed hesitant. "It's about us winning as team, not as an individual."

"But how do we all get a bell?" Naruto asked. "Last time I still got strapped to a log."

"It doesn't matter who has the bells," Sasuke said. "Didn't you hear him? He said it's about how we work as a team."

Orochimaru looked at the Uchiha, he had caught what he was saying but he was still explaining it rather harshly too the other genin who seemed slightly stung by the abruptness.

"You can attain all three bells if you want to," Orochimaru said. "As long as we help you do it we all pass."

"That would make him leader," Sasuke stated. "We are there for resuming the roles of a team where he gets to be in the lead. We should establish a leader among ourselves and then that person can get the bells."

"Why can't I be leader?" Naruto asked annoyed.

"For obvious reasons," Sakura said.

"He won't be leader. None of us will," Orochimaru said looking directly at the Uchiha. "We are letting the best man for the job take the lead. That is how we will do every mission. Whoever is the most suited to succeed will be the driving force of our squad meaning we will always get the best results."

"No team functions without a set leader," Sasuke said.

"Our set leader is Kakashi," Orochimaru said back with challenging eyes. They were bright and almost innocent until he narrowed them, then the young serpent displayed its ability to be a threat.

"I think he is right Sasuke-kun," Sakura said. "Naruto didn't get a bell last time, we already proved we could. Let him get them, no one would ever listen to him anyway."

Naruto pouted in the background, he got what he wanted but not in the way in which he wanted it. Sasuke agreed begrudgingly, pride told him he probably should not have let the annoying demon fox child get his way. They discussed battle strategy and then headed towards Kakashi who had been patiently waiting near the three training logs used for kunai practise.

They were being direct, but their every move worked well with one another. It was a clear display of team work, and they had chosen to be direct as there would be no reason to deny how they were working with one another rather than against one another. That was the point they were trying to make as the four young shinobi attempted to get the bells. As suspected Orochimaru displayed his prowess on the battlefield and greatly outshone the less experienced genin. He had after all the information on fighting the other were just now learning. The other three members of team seven snapped impressed eyes as the pale boy pushed the highly elite copy ninja backwards.

"Don't leave me out of this!" Naruto yelled angrily. He rushed in to steal the bells but Kakashi gave it no attention, after all the pale boy was the threat. He was disappointed, Naruto had gone in to ruin the younger child's strategy, he would in turn only succeed in sabotaging the Sannin. Sakura and Sasuke worked alongside the pale boy, they herded the copy ninja towards his every advance. Still, Naruto was going to ruin their team efforts the Jonin thought. But he was wrong and the pale boy smiled up a fanged grin as he allowed Naruto to use him as a way to get to the teacher. It had been a ruse but the white haired shinobi had not been quick enough to catch it as Naruto attained all the bells in one go. He leapt in the air with excitement.

Kakashi smiled beneath his mask, they had tricked him. They had made it appear as if Naruto was acting off his usual bad sportsmanship when in fact he was the one the copy ninja should have been watching, they had not put their best man up, that would have meant the Sannin would attain the bells, instead they had put their worst member forward so that the element of surprise remained with them. An impressive strategy. They had not forgotten the fact that it boiled down to team work and not the bells themselves.

"Congratulations team seven," Kakashi said. "We will be assigned our mission tomorrow. All of you will be coming with as you displayed a good ability to work with one another. How about we go get something to eat as a reward?"

"Yes!" Naruto said with even more excitement radiating off him. The team headed to the village, Sakura wouldn't leave the Uchiha alone, she hung by his side and muttered just how impressed she was with his skills. Naruto didn't feel left out as he usually did, this time he walked by the Sannin and retold the story of his bell snatching success. Orochimaru humoured him with much experience from his days with Jiraiya. There was no point arguing, and besides, optimism was a good thing to have on a on a team. Kakashi walked behind all four of the smaller ninja, he was content with the end result. He was now set on giving the Sannin a second chance in the village of his old home.

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Danzo and Hiruzen had watched the entire session, the bandaged up man looked over at the Hokage with impressed eyes.

"Well he seems to be working very well with the new team," He said. They had lied to Kakashi, Danzo had told the Third the truth, he had told him it was the Sannin himself and not his child. He did it because he knew the man would find out anyway, he was to in tune with the black haired child. However he knew for a fact that the old man would want to see the boy back under his watchful eye, he would never have the heart to kill him unless it became vital for the village's safety. As it stood he would keep a firm watch on the Sannin to assess his motives, if they could change him, if Kakashi could change him, then he would retire happily. If not, if the Sannin displayed darker motives, the Hokage knew it would be up to him to kill the child he raised. As it stood, Danzo was mightily impressed with the display of comradeship. Hiruzen was not.

"He is still too smart for his own good," Hiruzen said. "he will not fall for the same tricks we use on the other genin, he will ensure neither will his team. What's worse, his very first match he used deceit to win. He even got his team to play along."

"Come now Hiruzen, they would never beat a Jonin playing fairly. They worked well, I think you are reading this wrong," Danzo said. "Children will learn morals after they learn how to fend for themselves. They are selfish by nature, it is the way we survive until we no longer need to rely on such methods."

"We must watch him," Hiruzen affirmed.

"I will do so myself when you cannot," Danzo said. The Third Hokage smiled gratefully. He did not know that the bandaged man had been the cause for his students walk own a dark road in the first place.

Authors note: I hope everyone enjoyed the first chapter! Especially the person this fic is being written for. Thanks for being awesome Vampiredoll666.


	2. Trust

_"Maybe I'm the worst person in the universe but I always try my best for you."_

It was finally time for the new team to get their long awaited for mission, Orochimaru couldn't understand it but he felt a small amount of anticipation both good and bad. He had done countless missions, this shouldn't have been anything special yet in his childhood form he could not hold back his excitement to be handed such an adventure weighed down by responsibility. He glanced around at his team mates, Kakashi had his usual calm demeanour while Naruto had an obvious grin of eagerness, Sakura paid close attention to Sasuke who didn't seem fazed at anything. Hiruzen explained to their team what they would be required to do, a simple easy start off mission. They would be escorting a few men of high status from point A to point B, they would make sure nothing troublesome got in range of the men and that if anything did it would be sorted out quickly. He handed the low levelled task to the Jonin of the team, he then met eyes with each Genin individually before resting on the Sannin.

"May it be a good first mission, I hope nothing goes astray and that you report back with success," Hiruzen said.

"Thank you Hokage-sama," Sasuke, Sakura and Orochimaru chorused.

"You bet!" Naruto said.

"This should be a three day mission, a day to get there, a day to do the escort and a day to return," Kakashi said to his team. The Genin nodded.

They followed the white haired Jonin to the gates of Konoha where two shinobi granted them leave with farewells. They passed eyes at the Sannin, they wished the team luck, but they made a point of not including the golden eyed boy. Orochimaru found himself unable to shake off the negativity. He had mastered the art in his adulthood, but rendered as a child he fell victim to harsh words so easily. Being snubbed felt as if the world itself wanted to crash down on top of him, swallow his small form up only to spit him out again. He ducked his head as he passed the men to avoid meeting their eyes, long side hanging strands of hair covered his face as he did so. They didn't deserve the satisfaction of knowing they had affected him. Kakashi noticed it, he looked down at the boy as he walked behind him and then made his own point of putting a kind hand on his back to guide him out the gate.

"We won't need the luck," Kakashi said. He said it in a way that was hard to identify its nature. On the one hand it could have been a friendly pass that he thought his team efficient and a guaranteed success. On the other hand however, it could have been seen as dismissal of their words, as they had not included the Sannin in their statement. Golden eyes rested on the copy ninja and then looked back at the path ahead. He watched the other Genin bounce with excitement, it was unlikely they had ever gone far from the village. Orochimaru had lived outside the nation for years, he didn't share their curiosity of the outside world.

He found a different sense of interest however as he watched the other three older shinobi dart around as if they were horses freed from the pasture. So eager to not have walls around them, to discover a land they had only heard things about, first hand sights meant so much more.

"Don't stray," Kakashi warned light heartedly. Orochimaru stuck to his side, slightly excluded from the others eagerness. Sasuke's curiosity was short lived and soon he returned to the Jonin as well with bored eyes and a fixed expression. Sakura moved back to the Uchiha as she was still overly in love with idea of being near him. Naruto never returned.

"Come back," Kakashi called unenthusiastically. He could not see the blond boy as he disappeared in to thicker shrubbery. Orochimaru could see the lack of willingness in his teachers eyes. He decided, since the man was technically saving his life, he would help him out in smaller ways.

"I'll go find him," Orochimaru said as he trotted ahead, although the copy ninja knew the boy was the youngest on the team, it was reassuring to know he had good knowledge of how things worked. His small form also faded from the Jonins vision. The Sannin headed the same way he had seen Naruto diverge, he heard the sounds of a struggle. An arrogantly silent attempt at getting free from something without the embarrassment of someone finding him.

"Don't do that you'll get tangled even more than you currently are," Orochimaru said calmly as he approached the blond. As it stood Naruto had managed to get stuck in an amateur animal trap made in the shape of a net. He dangled in the air as he wrestled to unwrap the rope from his leg.

"I don't really need help," he said stubbornly, but all his kunai and shurikan lay defeatedly below him just out of reach.

"For my own piece of mind I'm going to step in," Orochimaru said as he retrieved one of his own weapons. He threw it with precise aim, the strong rope was cut through and it frayed until giving way entirely. A loud thud resounded as the Jinchuuriki hit the floor. He got up and rubbed his head before throwing blue eyes at the others bright yellow ones.

"Thanks but uh- don't mention this to Sasuke will you?" Naruto said. Orochimaru had noticed how the other boy yearned to earn the others attention, they had presumably been rivals since their younger days. The Sannin gained nothing from retelling the story, he had always been mature even at a young age, he nodded simply. The usual grin spread across the blond boys face, he seemed to greatly appreciate anything that was genuinely meant.

"You're not as bad as I thought you'd be Oro-chan," he said, he had gotten in to a habit of copying the nick name Kakashi gave the Sannin.

"Thanks I guess," Orochimaru said as he watched the boy race back to their team. He caught up rather quickly as they got back on to the dusty path. Kakashi looked between them as if he expected some sort of catastrophe. Neither one of the boys said a word and so he gave up on knowing where the fox child ended up. They planned on resting at a small village on route to their destination, they would spend the evening and night there before finally reaching their destination. Kakashi was impressed by his teams speed, they had arrived sooner than he would have thought.

"You can feel free to explore. Just make sure you come back to the inn at a reasonable hour," Kakashi said to the Genin. He felt strange enforcing curfew, it was only a few years prior that he had been the one ignoring such rules. The younger shinobi seemed to like the idea of investigating, all except for the Sannin who almost shyly still stood nearer to the adult. Sasuke glanced at Naruto, then dismissed him to ensure the boy knew he didn't want to be followed. Naruto glared at him leaving, Sakura opted to still follow the Uchiha leaving the blond alone by the other two ninja. It didn't deter him however, he and found someone he could replace the others with. He grabbed Orochimaru by one of his thin wrists and tugged at him, his light form stood no real chance and he was being dragged deeper in to the town. Kakashi almost stopped the blond, but then decided against it. Perhaps allowing the kids to fully get to know one another would be beneficial, after all he would not always be around to supervise them. He needed to allow them some room to grow on their own. He sighed slightly nervous as to what he was actually doing, he then entered the inn where he would sign his team a room. Orochimaru had hoped the copy ninja would save him but he soon realized he was already far from the inn still held tight by the older boy. Finally they came to a stop.

"I'm hungry what about you?" Naruto asked with another slightly stupid grin. Orochimaru snatched his wrist away and rubbed it carefully.

"I don't have money," Orochimaru said allowing his initial temper to die down as he usually did. His golden eyes were calm and demure once more.

"Neither does Kakashi now," Naruto said with a slightly mischievous face.

"You robbed him?" Orochimaru said horrified.

"Just borrowed really," Naruto said.

"Without him knowing?" Orochimaru said.

"I didn't know if he would say yes," Naruto said honestly.

"We can't spend his money," Orochimaru advised, but he was not as forceful as the more persuasive male. Naruto had a natural ability to be a leader, he did not give up and he fought for his opinion and ideas to be the most important thing, he was young and naive as of now, but it would stand him in good stead when became older and wiser. Orochimaru on the other hand was rather submissive in his younger days, he did not allow others to shape him as their opinions rolled off his back, but they could over power his words and he would simply remain quiet and allow it to happen. Eventually the blond boy managed to convince him he wasn't returning the money that night, but he had decided to repay the copy ninja when they got home. It was good enough for the Sannin who had decided he was hungry enough to not complain. Naruto had also elaborated that he had taken some money, not much at that.

The real reason Orochimaru dropped the argument was because he realized that the other male was clumsy. If he had thought Kakashi did not know he had robbed him he was a fool. The copy ninja had simply allowed it, as he had most likely pitied the orphan. They entered a small shop to locate something edible, the reactions they received upon entry had the Sannin nervously backing out.

"Freaks! Two of them!" The owner yelled. "Get out- we don't serve demons here!"

"Do you want our money or not?" Naruto challenged.

"What did I just say? We don't serve devils, get out now before we call higher ups," he yelled, the people in the shop murmured their disapproval of the two boys presence. Naruto challenged them further, he fought for his rights, the pale boy felt awfully out of place. He didn't like conflict, he ran from it. He didn't want to challenge the men, or stand out, he wanted to blend in to the floor boards if he could. He didn't like standing by the fiery boy who demanded they be served for they had done nothing wrong. He agreed with Naruto's points, for they had surely done no harm to receive such hatred. Regardless, he didn't like the fact that he was forced to take more and more cruel cutting words. Eventually the owner threw a sign board at them. It was easy to dodge, but the physical attempt to hurt him shook the pale boy. He moved backwards to show he wasn't going to fight him, he then desperately tugged at the other boys sleeve.

"Leave it," Orochimaru said.

"Call someone to get these freaks off this street," the owner muttered to someone. Naruto stood his ground.

"Call whoever you want you spineless jerk," he spat, he snarled up at the man with a young anger. He hated the injustice of the matter, how they had decided to hate them both when he had done absolutely nothing. Much to the younger ninjas horror higher up Jonin of the small village did come, they came baring the same unjustified resent. They chased the two boys away with more force than the man threw the sign board. Naruto scampered off but in a moment of rage he picked up a rock which had just been thrown at the two genin and lobbed it back at the Jonin. The older men didn't take it well, they made after the two boys. Orochimaru regretted staying by the other ninjas side, at the same time he knew if given a chance to go back he still would have stood by him. They raced around the street to avoid being caught by the advanced men. It was a sickening display to some, two adults after two much smaller shinobi. The power balance was so out of order, and yet they assumed the two children were no better than demons. It to them, gave their cause justification. Naruto stumbled, one of the men caught him and grabbed the collar of his shirt. The Sannin halted and turned back to slam in to the man using tactic and skill to off balance him as his small weight would never do the trick. The man fell and cussed as Naruto got up to run again, the second male grabbed the serpent by his long black hair and attempted to pull him closer angry about his momentarily downed friend. He was no rookie, the men had underestimated him due to size. Snakes emerged from his sleeve and forced the Jonin to release him, the man was terrified of the reptiles and screamed, he threw the boys small body forwards.

Being so light meant the force had him crashing in to a nearby wall, he pushed himself from it painfully and then darted after the blond boy who had almost come running back to rescue his black haired team mate. Moments after the small altercation they disappeared from the men's sights. They leant against a brick wall panting from adrenalin and fatigue.

"This village sucks," Naruto said spitting on the floor angrily. He looked at the Sannin and seemed to be slightly worried. He reached out and touched the top of his head. "You're bleeding."

It must have happened when he was slammed in to the wall, his face had made contact seconds before his hands caught him. He steadied his breathing and lightly knocked the older boys hand away.

"I'm fine, it's just a scratch," Orochimaru said.

"They had no right to do that," Naruto said, the others wound hurt him directly.

"People don't always wait until they have the right to do something. If they can justify it in their own heads they're going to do it," Orochimaru said.

"Then we are no better than animals," Naruto snapped.

"Maybe not, humans are after all simply more intelligent. We think ourselves superior, but we misuse that word all time," Orochimaru admitted. "We should go back to the inn. I don't want to risk that all over again."

"Back? We haven't even gotten revenge for what they did," Naruto said, a sudden mischievous smile passed his face again.

"I'm not going back in there," Orochimaru said flatly.

"Did you see how scared they were of your summonings?" Naruto said.

"Most people are," Orochimaru admitted.

"Let's pretend we cursed them, if they think we are demons anyway may as well get something out of it right? I'm going to tell the manager we cursed them, then you're going to plague the place. Idiots will be out of work of a while with the rumours," Naruto said delighted at his plan.

"What if they come to find and kill us?" Orochimaru asked, the idea of revenge did seem tempting. An eye for an eye he thought, deciding it may be better to at least maintain some of his old pride... albeit in a childlike manner.

"They'll probably be too scared, and either way we will be back with Sensei so not much can happen," Naruto stated. It wasn't a good idea by any means, but it was the only one present and doing nothing didn't sit well with the Sannin. It used too, but the older boy was influencing him. Once again his wrist was snatched up, this time a lot lighter as the blond had seen he had accidentally hurt the fragile looking boy last time. They got to the restaurant and Naruto walked up to two young looking boys, they glanced at him and were about to hurl insults his way when the blond pulled out money from his pocket.

"I'll give you this if you tell the owner of that shop that we cursed them," he said with a grin. The two older boys looked between one another. At first they wanted to tell Naruto and Orochimaru that they were freaks, but the money had them change their tune.

"Deal," the more competent male said as he took the money. He entered the small shop and came back out looking weirded out. "Did you actually curse the place?"

Clearly they didn't think it a far off prospect given the two genins appearances.

"Of course," Naruto said taking the prank too far as usual. Orochimaru watched for the other two males reactions, they seemed horrific and scattered away from the area. "Go on, freak them out!"

Orochimaru ducked behind the building and allowed many smaller snakes to materialize and enter the shop. They never questioned the orders they received, they would do anything the summoner requested, be it small or a big task. Small shrieks came from the store and a few customers left.

"They warned you, I'm telling you it's cursed," one man said.

"It's only a few snakes, there could be a nest nearby you superstitious fool," a woman snapped to him. Orochimaru did not allow anymore growth in that idea, he summoned larger snakes, ones that could probably cause some damage if they chose to attack. He had given them no order to be on the offensive so the people were safe. They didn't know that naturally.

"Fuck!" A man yelled, soon the owner himself exited his store. He seemed petrified, as if he had just made the biggest mistake of his life. Snakes resided through out the small store coiled up on counters and hanging off tables as they investigated the place. Their tongues flicked in and out of their mouths as they roamed around, their long bodies slipping gracefully across the floor. The owner seemed troubled, he truly believed his work was now haunted. He didn't think he would have a chance at making any sales and as it stood all his customers had fled. The two Jonin who had chased the boys came running up. They had little to say to console the man.

"They won't be such jerks next time," Naruto said looking at the Sannin. Orochimaru wasn't sure, but he appreciated the look of horror on the men's faces. He felt the blond tugging him down the road again, they were heading back to the inn as it was getting late. When they arrived Kakashi stood outside with his arms crossed over his chest.

"So, what were you two doing all this time?" He asked as he eyed their rushing forms approach.

"We were looking for food," Orochimaru said honestly.

"That all?" Kakashi asked.

"We didn't find anything," Naruto said.

"Tell me," Kakashi said his words slowly. "Why am I receiving cries for help from locals?"

"Because you're a Jonin duh," Naruto said, he hadn't caught on to the fact that their teacher had heard about their little prank. Naturally, he did not believe for one minute they had truly cursed the place.

"We didn't hurt anyone," Orochimaru said trying to remain casual. The copy ninja hadn't expected the Sannin to partake in such an act. Naruto was influencing him terribly so.

"You hurt someone's business," Kakashi said, then hair moved away from the Sannin's face revealing the wound he had attained from the two men. "What happened there?"

"They attacked us, so we pranked his business. It was only fair," Naruto said stubbornly. His blue eyes daring the man to say that he was wrong. The copy ninja sighed, he should have corrected the two, and he would, but only after seeing to the small wound. He took them to their room the people at reception watching them worriedly. The three ninja could easily hear them mutter _devils_ under their breath. They got to the room and Kakashi sat both of them down, the blond looked at the cut and then grimaced.

"That looks like it hurts," he admitted.

"It's just a cut," Orochimaru replied. He didn't care much for minor injuries, even from young he tended to be rather pain tolerant. The copy ninja wiped the blood away with a wet cloth before placing a bandaid on it. The tape crossing over the middle to hold the square white bandage to his flesh annoyed him but he kept that to himself. Once it was seen to the Jonin gave the two disappointed eyes before sitting opposite them.

"I get that not everyone acts appropriately with regards to you both," Kakashi said. "But proving they are right only feeds hatred. If you want to change how things are you must do so smartly not forcefully."

Naruto glanced away sheepishly, the Sannin had annoyed fixed golden eyes locked on to the older man. He was a child, and he did in most regards end up acting like one, but he did not appreciate such patronizing life lessons.

He avoided saying anything about it, after all Naruto was right there. He didn't want the boy to pick up on the strangeness of his and copy ninjas relationship. Technically speaking the man who was treating him like a twelve year old was supposed to be his boyfriend. That would require some sort of equal standing ground which had now been destroyed by his mess up.

"We won't do it again," Naruto said.

Orochimaru made no promises, and the stare he gave Kakashi confirmed that. The Jonin watched him with worry and then thanked Naruto before getting up. The door clicked open and Sasuke and Sakura entered the inn room. Sakura was giggling even though judging by the Uchihas bored expression, nothing funny had been said. She was love sick and that evidently greatly annoyed Naruto.

"Heard about what you did," Sakura snapped to the blond.

"It wasn't just me Sakura-chan," Naruto whined.

"Like I have to guess who had the idea though," Sakura snapped. Sasuke glanced between them but didn't care to get involved in the scruff. He looked at the Sannin, he had something he wanted to ask him but remained silent all the same.

"You four will share this room, I'll be next door," Kakashi said. "We are leaving early tomorrow, so I suggest you get some rest now."

Shortly after his announcement the copy ninja left the four younger ninja alone. He assumed matters would be fine given the fact that Sasuke generally did not engage and Sakura enjoyed her role in squashing the fire in Naruto. He had been wrong before, and this was one more time to add to the list of bad assumptions.

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The four Genin had sorted out where they would each be sleeping, there were two separate rooms with two single beds in either one. Naruto and the Sannin had decided to share while Sakura had girlishly squealed at the prospect of sleeping near to the Uchiha. All four Genin were in the main area of the small inn room getting ready for bed, Naruto bounded up to Sasuke, then composed himself a few steps away.

"It's too early to go to bed," Naruto stated trying to act casual. "How about a little late night spar behind the building?"

Sasuke looked at him as if it had triggered an idea. He did not sadly have the same one in mind as Naruto.

"Maybe we should train a bit," he said, but his cold eyes rested on the Sannin. "You're much more experienced than the other Genin. Maybe you'll be a worthy opponent."

"Hey!" Naruto said offended. "I'm the one who wanted to train with you."

"I won't learn anything from battling someone of your rank," Sasuke said sparing the blond a brief glance.

"I'm not interested. If you want to spar then go with him," Orochimaru said letting his long hair fall out of its ponytail as he got ready to simply sleep off the annoying events of the day. The Uchiha seemed disappointed.

"Come on. I'll prove my worth if I must," Naruto said.

"I'm not wasting my time with a moron," Sasuke concluded, he walked up to the Sannin and made no point to hide the fact that he was assessing him. The younger boy flashed warning slitted eyes. He wasn't looking for another fight, but the Uchiha was used to getting his way with the other children. He wasn't taking no as an answer.

"Oro-chan and Sakura-chan can watch us fight," Naruto insisted.

"Afraid you won't look as good compared to me?" Sasuke challenged. Orochimaru rolled his eyes at the others weak attempts, he may have appeared younger but he wasn't immature even when he truly was the age he appeared.

"With insults like those the only person you could rile up into fighting you is a moron," Orochimaru mumbled, he hadn't exactly meant for the Uchiha to catch his words. Sasuke narrowed his eyes. He was rather intimidating, he had a cold stare and a determined disposition. A bad past had made him more durable to the ruthlessness of the world. He didn't take things to heart, but his pride wouldn't tolerate anything less than respect from someone he deemed below him. He deemed most people below him.

"What are you anyway?" Sasuke asked. He had seen how the question had offended him their first meeting, he was going out of his way to insult the boy more personally.

"We established human," Orochimaru said back. "I thought Uchiha were supposed to be smart."

"I thought humans were supposed to be _normal_ ," Sasuke said back turning away. Orochimaru hissed at the cutting statement. He didn't need to look normal to be human, he was human enough. He could do what they did, speak what they spoke and feel what they felt. How was he any different because his eyes were narrower and marked by purple.

"If all Uchiha are like you it's no wonder you killed yourselves," Orochimaru snapped. It was clearly a step too far. Anything that linked to his family and their unfortunate and tragic deaths had the black haired boy angry. It was the parting words his detestable brother had left him with. _You lack hatred_. Well he lacked it no more. The smaller boy found the other on top of him in seconds, his red eyes were activated with spiralling black markings spinning like shurikens inside them.

"What did you say?!" He snapped holding the boys kimonos collar. Orochimaru grunted from the lack of ability to breath before eliciting a rather threatening hiss. He had been fine to insult the Sannin, but he seemed unable to take the cold words back. The youngest boy turned the tables by using the others widget against him. He forced the Uchiha to let him go as he twisted his body around to ensure the other would release him or break his own wrist trying to hold on. Sasuke backed up for mere moments before lunging again. Naruto watched the two dark haired boys fight with skill he didn't think Genin their age should possess. Orochimaru did not want to hurt him in the start of the tantrum, but when the older boy grabbed his long tail like hair the tugging pain made him lash out back. Snakes appeared from his sleeves and wrapped around the Uchiha before throwing him against the wall.

"Calm down," Orochimaru said trying to break the fight up before it got even more heated.

Sasuke didn't show any sign of wishing to allow the brawl to end, he was revenge driven, and the only thing that burned in his red eyes was fuming anger. He did a few hand signs and set fire to a small area signature to his heritage. Perhaps to prove a point even. Orochimaru backed up and sent wind to extinguish the lethal flames in a nervous panic that it would set the room alight. He then engaged him, if he wouldn't stop with words he would have to simply hold him down. They wrestled around on the floor while Sakura and Naruto watched worriedly. They had both injured one another, the hawk and the snake could not help but fight. They had conflicting personalities, they had strengths that should be admired, but instead only ended them up in a blood bath. Finally after a long enough scruff on the floor the Uchiha show cased that he was the physically stronger of the two. He pinned the younger boy under him a kunai drawn to his neck. It wasn't appropriate for a mere team mate squabble. Still physical power was always how others attempted to outdo the snake. He had long since come up with a way around it. Orochimaru repeated the same move from earlier and turned the tables by flipping the boy over using his weight. He rolled them over so that he was now at the top and dislodged the kunai so it was in his grasp. He would never have drawn a weapon, but since it was on the playing field he held it to the Uchiha.

"Stop," he ordered, Sasuke froze by the blade, his red eyes still a burning rage. The door banged open and all four Genin startled. Kakashi looked at them and then materialized by the two muddled up boys.

He grabbed hold of the Sannin and pulled him off by his arm. He checked Sasuke briefly but could easily see no serious damage had occurred, the serpent noticed he didn't bother check him over. He tried to pull his upper arm out of Kakashi's grasp but the other was holding on too tightly and with too much determination. He made a point of pulling harder but the copy ninja made a point of tightening his grip.

"What happened?" Kakashi demanded.

"We never needed an extra member. We don't want some freak like him on our team," Sasuke snapped.

"You're just bitter because despite all your arrogance, an Uchiha like yourself couldn't stop a commoner like me," Orochimaru hissed back. Sasuke glared daggers at the boy.

"Quiet," Kakashi said rather harshly, although he knew the Sannin looked like a child in his head he assumed the boy still should be the more mature one out of the two them. The copy ninja had sworn he would protect his Genin, he wouldn't compromise that for the world, if the Sannin was a danger to them he would not be blind to it because of love. He looked at Sakura, she glanced at Sasuke.

"It was him," Sakura said aiming her blame at the Sannin. "He started it."

Orochimaru didn't take it to heart, but he swore that he would certainly never consider the girl or the Uchiha a comrade. He thought, for a second, that Naruto would come to his defence. But the blond didn't, he remained silent, as it stood it was hard for him to argue three eye witnesses. The copy ninja guided, or more so pulled the boy out the area.

"I'll be back," he said as he took the black haired boy back to his room.

He closed the door behind them once they were alone in the apartment. He was both disappointed and angry, his stare and tone was once more patronizing. Orochimaru pulled his arm away when the other loosened his grip and took two purposeful steps back. He placed physical distance between them stubbornly.

"Those are my Genin," Kakashi said. "I'm not going to allow you near them if they are under any risk. You could kill all three of them, with little difficulty I'm sure. They're my first priority no matter what happens-"

"I didn't plan on killing them," Orochimaru interrupted.

"It looked like you had a kunai to one of their throats just two minutes ago," Kakashi snapped back. Orochimaru was taken aback at the slightly raised volume. He didn't understand the copy ninja was just afraid for his team, for he did not see himself, least of all his twelve year old self, a threat to anyone. His eyes appeared visibly hurt and he averted his gaze, once again too easily subdued by mere words. Kakashi didn't allow himself to fall for it. He wondered if the Sannin wasn't merely playing tricks as he was known to do. Perhaps he knew he could never win push come to shove, so he would play on the others guilt using his innocent charm to fool everyone.

"You'll stay here for the night, I don't trust you," Kakashi said. He had meant to say he didn't trust him alone with them. The forgotten words made all the difference, Orochimaru's golden eyes met the others for a fleeting moment. They were slightly less shy now, they were still hurt, but a deep anger rushed past them.

"Then I'll go," he said. Kakashi was about to go to the door to speak with the other Genin when the words stopped him.

"You can't go," he said back.

"You don't trust me," Orochimaru repeated. "Well I'd hate to impose myself on you. I can't trust someone who can only assume the worst of me."

"That's not what I meant. You can't go because you have no where to go," Kakashi snapped. He was letting his worry for his Genin get to him, he was being harsher than he usually would have liked. Orochimaru threw his angered eyes at the ground.

"Like I ever had anyone before. I'll be fine on my own, I won't notice the difference," Orochimaru said.

"Anyone who sees you will kill you on the spot. Calm down and wait here until I get back," Kakashi said.

"There's no point me staying here. You've said it yourself. Thanks for trying, I should have known you'd come out with the truth eventually," Orochimaru snapped, his young voice was shaken. "I regret coming to you for anything."

"I want to speak to the others and hear what they have to say. Then we can discuss what we should do," Kakashi said.

"Sasuke wants me off the team, and Sakura does what he says. I can tell you exactly what they'll say, they'll say I'm a monster, an uncontrollable monster. Naruto won't agree but he'll say he does. Because all he wants is acceptance. He has always sought it out from Sasuke and he will do so now," Orochimaru said. "You may as well spare me the wait and allow me to go. That's the only conclusion you'll come to."

"Why don't you allow me to decide that," Kakashi said.

"Because it's all a waste of time," Orochimaru said. The copy ninja didn't think he had time to argue with the boy, he wanted to check on his team and make sure they were all okay. He knew for a fact that the Sannin had made up his mind about leaving. If he left him alone in the room he could almost assume the boy would be gone when he returned. Deciding the serpent was being difficult, the copy ninja sealed the room and left. Successfully trapping the Sannin inside. He was slightly surprised the boy put up no fight, he simply sat down against the wall he had stood by and drew his knees to his chest rather pitifully. Kakashi disappeared when the door was closed and sealed and the boy allowed his long hair to cover the sides of his face completely. He regretted everything, the experiment, the running to Kakashi, speaking to Sasuke. He regretted trusting so stupidly. As an adult he had been closed off, even though he had been in a serious relationship with the copy ninja he was reserved. As a child he had forgotten all of life's harsh reminders, he had trusted Kakashi would help him. Trusted that the village would take him in, that Danzo would find a cure, trusted that perhaps he had found a friend in Naruto. He wanted to be powerful again, so that he could live on his own. So that he needed to depend on no one making him immune to betrayal. He could feel tears surfacing but he tried his best to deny them.

As an adult crushing his own emotion was second nature, as a child he had a better chance of killing a Kyubi single handedly. His small sobs echoed the empty room he was left in, he may have been able to break the seals he suddenly thought. Before he was turned in to a younger self he had been a master of the art, he had less potent chakara, but he had the skills. He walked to the door and attempted to break the seal, it bounced him back as it was more powerful than he was. He resumed his defeated position on the floor, tears left unshed in his golden eyes. Kakashi returned what felt like half an hour later to find the boy in the pitiful spot he had been the entire duration. He had felt the Sannin try and break his seal, it meant one thing. The boy truly wanted to leave. He wanted nothing more than to escape the man who had injured him emotionally by merely saying too much. The copy ninja approached him calmly. He had done enough damage he thought. Mentally he reprimanded himself. He should have taken in to consideration the fact that the Sannin was still acting as a child might. He had less control of how he felt and handled things, he was more sensitive and easier to scare.

"Oro-chan," the copy ninja dropped to one knee beside the Sannin. The latter of which did not look up. He placed an apologetic arm on the boy, he hadn't meant to offend him as he had, but he had been genuinely concerned for who he thought the weaker members of his team were. The Sannin had predicated correctly, Sasuke had requested the serpent leave, Sakura had vouched his every word true and Naruto had been troubled but ultimately agreed for what seemed like acceptance.

Orochimaru didn't seem willing to talk, nor to make eye contact for that matter, when the others arm touched him he pulled away. He had only cried for the first five minutes the copy ninja was away. After that he had reigned in his emotion and commanded himself that if he wanted to survive as his older self had he would have to act like his older self had. He had ensured no traces of tears were left in his eyes, he didn't need Kakashi thinking he was more pathetic than he already seemed to think. Dangerous, yet pitiful.

"I didn't mean to offend you," Kakashi tried.

"I don't want to be a part of your team," Orochimaru finally said, his voice had the hint of a small shake but ultimately he kept it rather secure.

"I didn't mean what I said," Kakashi said.

"It's not about the other genin," Orochimaru said. Kakashi allowed him to finish. "When I am on your team I have to act like y _our_ student. I don't like doing that, you treat me like a child as is, which I'm not. I'd like to be equal again and I think that this will only pull us a part. If I can't be trusted alone leave me under Danzo's watch until I finally return to normal, but I don't like being around you when you're acting like my master rather than my partner."

The copy ninja hadn't realized he had been doing what the other accused him of, but he supposed perhaps he had. It was hard not to. Still, he would do anything to change his mind. He didn't want him near Danzo, he didn't want him near anyone who could put him at risk.

"I didn't realize I was treating you like a child," Kakashi admitted. Golden eyes shifted to him from beneath long hair.

"It's unreasonable to expect to you to act any other way, you're only human. But regardless of what others think so am I. I know you don't trust Danzo, and maybe neither should I, but I can't be around you right now. When I'm normal we can talk it over," Orochimaru said, it may have been a good valid point, but the copy ninja was struggling to hear it as anything other than a child trying his best to come up with a solution. Once again he realized he wasn't exactly respecting the other.

"This isn't the easiest team. It just seems impossible right now. Give it another chance this was our first problem. It always seems useless in the beginning," Kakashi said. "We should go to sleep, and then see how you feel about it all in the morning."

The Sannin didn't think he would feel any different about it. After all he was rather sure Sasuke was bound to be rather cutting towards him, Naruto would now steer away as he would sooner pick Sasuke over the new member while Sakura was barely aware the Sannin existed when she was near the Uchiha. Not in the mood to argue the boy followed his supposed to be partner. Since Kakashi had assumed he would be alone there was only one bed, he stopped thinking for a moment that perhaps it was inappropriate. He was young, but the Sannin was considerably younger and fell out the acceptable dating range now. He paused for long enough to be obvious and the golden eyed serpent watched him curiously.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Well there's only one bed," Kakashi admitted almost stupidly, the other didn't see the problem. When he did he gave the other a rather annoyed look. Once again his eyes show cased he was more experienced than he looked.

"We've done more than share the same bed Kakashi," Orochimaru said in his strangely small voice.

"I don't know how you feel on anything anymore, I was just making sure you weren't uncomfortable," Kakashi said quickly to rectify himself. The Sannin didn't spare him more time. He was tired, he was much younger now and he had been in more fights than he had bargained for.

"Goodnight," He stated sharply before allowing the copy ninja to do whatever the hell he pleased as long as it did not involve him. The cold goodnight was all the older man needed. After all it sounded so much like his lover used to. It was sharp, cold and confident. It was the Sannin he knew would not be stepped on.

Authors note: Hope everyone enjoyed the chapter! Will try keep updating more on time O.o Not sure when I last posted but I've been meaning to read over and post this for a few days… Sorry! Thanks for the reviews and Vampiredoll666 I'm glad you liked the first chapter! I hope you enjoyed this one and will like all the ones to come! :3


	3. TeamWork

_"_ _Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much"_

The next morning came before the younger ninja were prepared for it to. Naruto whined when his teacher came in to drag their tired forms out of bed. Out of all their challenges so far Kakashi swore getting the genin to wake up was proving the hardest. Orochimaru was the exception as he seemingly always was, Sasuke also put up a fairly small fight with Sakura getting up when he did. Naruto however was not budging until the group decided to leave without him. He unhappily moved down the hall with a large obvious pout on his face. If he had a choice he would certainly not have been awake when the sun was not yet up itself. They checked out of their inn and left the village with mostly bitter memories behind. Sasuke dismissed Orochimaru entirely, he would not meet eyes with the boy and if he spared him a glance it was one of little tolerance and a great deal of hatred. If he spoke about the boy he would use the word _snake_ instead of his name. Even when he spoke to him he added the negative adjective. The Sannin didn't indulge him in his feelings, he had already upset the copy ninja once and he didn't feel up to dealing with that again. Naruto had a look of genuine regret, he walked beside the Sannin as he was not getting a very warm response from the other two genin he had sided with the night prior.

Orochimaru did not object to his company but he no longer allowed himself to be as polite to the blond. He had seen where they all stood, and if it was with a significant distance he would surely reciprocate their rather cold sentiment. His long hair was once again tied behind him as it danced in the early rising sunlight, his pale skin reflected enchantingly catching the copy ninja's attention as they walked. He sighed, he certainly had wished he had handled matters better the night before their mission. The event was fresh on everyone's mind and the story played out differently in each pair of eyes. They arrived at their post a few minutes before their clients did. The males were rather clinical and formal. None of the genin took a liking to their attitudes of disdain. Kakashi handled all the talking, he informed both his genin and the clients what would be happening on their journey. Seeing as there was an awkward tension between everyone, the white haired Jonin decided he would split the group up in a way they generally did not assemble. He positioned Sakura and Orochimaru at the front of the carriage, he would walk beside it, and then Naruto and Sasuke would watch from the back. It was Kakashi's hope that splitting Sakura and Sasuke would mean the Uchiha did not have a constant vote on his side in everything.  
"Good luck with Naruto," Sakura said to Sasuke in a joking manner, knowing he was rather opposite to the high energy blond. Sasuke passed her a casual look before removing his eyes and placing them more coldly on to the Sannin.

"Good luck with the snake," he said.

After that the team didn't complain accepting their teachers word as a tactical move rather than one based on their poor performance so far. Orochimaru kept his eyes on the road but he kept his senses sharp, the girl was glancing behind her most of the journey to see what her favoured team mate was doing but eventually she grew tired of trying to look past the bobbing horse heads.

"What village did you come from?" she finally asked earning the boys attention.

"The Hidden village of Sound," Orochimaru said honestly, she did not seem to know where that was, the village only recently appearing on the maps after the Sannin himself took it over. She nodded as she thought about it, looking much like the horse pulling behind her with its bouncy movements. "Were you born in Konoha?" he asked.

"Yes, I live with my mom and dad who were also born there," Sakura said cheerfully, her long pink hair moved bulkily with her stride. "Do you have any parents left?"

"No, they died," Orochimaru said, it was only once he had said it that he realized his lie contradicted his actual past. He was hoping it would not come up, if he changed his story he would draw attention to the otherwise trivial fact.

"Did you also lose them in the war? Most orphans lost their parents to the nine tails," Sakura admitted.

"No, I wasn't near the nine tail attack," Orochimaru said.

"Right, you were in sound," Sakura reminded herself. They continued with their conversation until Kakashi requested the horses be halted. They nickered softly in a grumbled discomfort as they sensed the unsettled energy resonating off the Jonin.

Orochimaru could sense the change as well, there was a strong aura of chakara to the left of their carriage and the purpose in the sensation made it clear they were headed for the ninja. Orochimaru looked to Kakashi to see if he had formulated a plan or if he needed to suggest one as many already spun in his head. The Jonin seemed ready however and he called Naruto and Sasuke to his side.

"Are there rogues attacking us?" One nobleman asked panicked, Kakashi tried to reassure his client.

"They want the katana you see," the other client said worriedly. "It can't be taken, it is to go to our Fuedal Lord. It is one of great history."

"We will do all we can to ensure the safety of your artefact," Kakashi said again. They both did not seem convinced when they looked at the genin.

"Don't go, send the four of them off," The man said. "Stay here with the sword."

"I will stop the rogues from reaching you. But I cannot stay here to do that. My genin have been trained for this, you are in good hands. Oro-chan, Sakura-chan, stay with our clients and protect them if need be," Kakashi said, "us three will go fight the rogues before they reach here."

"He leaves the two girls," one client muttered in disbelief to his partner. The man joined his panic, Orochimaru didn't bother correct them, he stood by the horses calming them down while he waited for his teacher to depart.

They had no clue what rogues were, but they sensed the threat of danger, they sensed a willingness to kill in the approaching figures. The small boy placed a gentle hand on the creatures large quivering neck and muttered for it to be still until finally the animals breathing returned to normal. Being an animal of prey the horses did not want to stand around and fight, they wanted to run, but they were domestic and they allowed the Sannin to override their natural instinct until finally they relaxed. Sakura was on edge as they moved forwards again. They were three ninja down, leaving only her and Orochimaru to escort their clients. The men in the carriage kept muttering how displeased they were, having no real grasp of how strategy worked. One of them snapped at Sakura when she got distracted by birds rushing past them. The girl startled, it was her first mission and she didn't seem to be handling their harsh criticism well. Orochimaru slowed his pace to reach her side as the man complained about her lack of professionalism.

"It is her duty to be vigilant. We understand you are afraid but Konoha is a well established nation who excels in escort missions such as this," Orochimaru said calmly, almost as Kakashi might have. "Things have not gone without disruption but when traveling with high value artefacts that is normal. For your safety we request you remain seated with the doors of your carriage drawn closed. All matters outside will be handled by us, your safety is our first concern, the sword our second with our own lives ranking last. In the name of Konoha, we will defend you until death."

The two men seemed to be slightly more at ease after the young boy had finished, he seemed to have a high grasp of what was required and furthermore he was stone faced in the panic. Sakura watched him slight in admiration, she hadn't expected him to take control of the situation. He was small and fragile looking and yet he seemed to have an air of competence whenever there was a lack of leadership.

She thanked him for his defending statement but he didn't seem to fully grasp why she had been grateful. Even though he did not see friendship as something he needed he knew full well how to function on a team. He was quick to aid any ally knowing full well that it was a basic requirement for a squad to function. It was not done on the basis Sakura would have liked it, she would have liked it if he had done it because he cared. It was not that, he did it because he wanted to succeed and to do that he needed to ensure the safety and wellbeing of every ninja standing with him. She supposed it was better than the opposite, where Naruto and Sasuke would fight to get to lead, they would risk the mission itself to outdo the other. She glanced in the direction they had gone, she wished Kakashi a great deal of luck.

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Naruto and Sasuke threw eyes at one another when they saw the approaching rogues. They did not wear headbands and they covered their faces in black and blue masks. There were six of them, but soon two more joined to make it eight. The Konoha headbands worn by the ninja were instantly noticed and it gave the rogue their command to attack without question. Kakashi took the bulk of the group and he faired with little difficulty. However he could only hope his genin would remember their training, he could not fight for them. Naruto took one of the men on while Sasuke took on another. Kakashi was handling the rest making sure they left his team alone. Naruto threw a kunai at the man attacking Sasuke when he noticed the Uchiha was in tight spot. He was not met with gratitude, the black haired boy taking it as an insult to his ability.

"Focus on your own battle," Sasuke snapped through pants.

"You're welcome you jerk," Naruto said his angry blue eyes leaving his enemy for the few seconds he used to address his team member. It was a fatal move and soon the man had advanced when the boy had looked away.

Naruto was sent crashing in to the ground, he saw a blade hurtling towards his face but he was too slow to dodge it. A kunai intercepted the weapon mere seconds before it hit the blond, it was the same kunai Naruto had used to help Sasuke. He looked back to see it was the Uchiha himself who had saved him the fatal blow, his eyes were still angry.

"I said focus on your own battle idiot," Sasuke said, although it now occurred to the other genin that it was said out of worry not hate. He thanked him before hopping up off the ground to address his enemy once more. The men were struggling with the genin as they were the weakest members of their squad, Kakashi had already killed two of the men, making only six a threat. Naruto suddenly felt the air get colder and denser. Fog started to surround the entire field blocking everyone's vision and senses.

"Are you alright?" Kakashi called in to the fog.

"We're fine," Sasuke replied calmly. Naruto and the Uchiha were still close enough to see one another. They did not know where their two enemies were however, and after a few minutes of looking they realized they were gone. Only two men remained in the fog. They both targeted Kakashi, the rest seemingly vanished. The copy ninja realized it too.

"Get to the others and warn them!" Kakashi yelled to his genin, Naruto and Sasuke nodded, then quickly confirmed their obedience out loud when they remembered their teacher could not see them.

They barrelled through the woods until it was finally less blocked by fog, they could see the carriage and they could hear the sound of blades clashing. When they got there a large serpent hissed in defence, they had never seen the boy summon something the size of a person before. The man eating snake had one of the attackers coiled up tightly in its clutches. Slowly but surely the life was draining from his eyes as he struggled in vein. Sakura fought one of the men standing back to back with the Sannin. He seemed rather calm despite his size. Naruto slammed in to the man facing Sakura and then looked to check both members were fine.

"How many are there?" Orochimaru asked him.

"Six, four should be here," Sasuke answered as he arrived beside the Sannin. Tensions were forgotten in the panic of battle.

"The clients will be killed if we fight here, the rogues will target them to ensure no one runs off with the katana," Orochimaru said to his team, they looked over at him as the rogue slowly advanced, one of their men had already been defeated by the surprisingly talented boy. "Sakura, we will handle the rogues, you get the clients to safety."

She hadn't been enjoying the fight, and saving was far more her passion in the shinobi plight than killing was. She agreed and ran to the carriage to open the door. Orochimaru summoned another large serpent and it circled him protectively.

He had not called it for his safety however, as Sakura ran off with the two men the serpent slipped after. It would aid her if need be, and it would obey her under the Sannin's wishes for it to. The three surviving rogues tried to take chase but they were each blocked by one of the boys. Naruto created multiple shadow clones as he battled the one man, it was a never ending cycle the rogue found out as the demon child had much energy. Sasuke had activated his bloodline limit and the red in his eyes instantly aided him in his fight, he was soon out matching his opponent much to the older ninja's dismay. Orochimaru was making quick work of the last shinobi. That was until he felt something slam in to him, he winced and backed away as a kunai sliced his side. He turned around sharply to be hit form the back by his first adversary. Orochimaru summoned a third serpent to be his eyes while he stumbled to regain his injured self. Three more rogues had entered, but they were not wearing the same outfits as the original trio. Regardless of the fact that they did not look as if they were aligned they seemed to fight as if they were. Sasuke sent fire at the men that had surrounded the Sannin, he was struggling at his young age to keep up. The new arrivals were more advanced than average Jonin. The men scattered for seconds, but then they saw that the Uchiha was a threat, so one of the men left the Sannin to fight him alongside the original thug.

As it was Orochimaru was still battling three ninja, Sasuke two while Naruto seemed to be failing with his one. He got angry at his own incompetence. The more annoyed he got the worse he did.

"Focus Naruto," Orochimaru yelled as he glanced at the boy from the corner of his eye. The last thing he needed was for the blond to get killed out of losing control. Naruto growled as he made five shadow clones, then he made another two until finally he got angry enough to make a hundred. The small army was weak as Naruto did not have much experience in his clone making. Either way it was a lot of bodies to be distracted by and the man fighting the child was thrown off until finally Naruto managed to ground him with a kunai. He didn't kill him, he hovered the blade over his neck but the man pleaded for his life. True to his nature the boy stopped. He snarled at the man, he couldn't kill him if he was acting the way he was. He didn't have the heart for it. He climbed off and ordered the man to run, and the rogue instantly put distance between himself and the children. He stayed on the battlefield and watched from afar as the boy who had spared him moved to help Sasuke.

He took the weaker one of the two and continued to use his shadow clones to overpower people. Sasuke sent a blast of fire at the ninja trying to get him before throwing multiple kunai towards Orochimaru's enemies.

"Your left Naruto," Orochimaru hissed when he spotted the man aiming at the blond, the boy himself oblivious. The three boys rotated around helping one another as they attacked. Sasuke defeated his opponent and slammed a kunai into his chest, the man went limp before his eyes dimmed. Orochimaru killed two of the men, leaving only one by him and one with Naruto. Sasuke went to take on one of the two Orochimaru fought while Naruto finally got the upper hand on his foe. Once again the man caught on to a means of escape and copied his ally begging for his life. Naruto once again didn't want to end the man.

"Kill him," Orochimaru said from afar. His eyes glanced back at the man Naruto had already spared. He didn't seem to be making any moves, but the Sannin was no fool. They would have to keep watch of him. If the tables turned out of the boys favour the man would step in to ensure they were defeated.

"No I don't need to," Naruto said.

"In a perfect world you could teach them a lesson. But that's not how things work, this is a battle to the death. It's us or them," Orochimaru said panting.

"Listen to him," Sasuke said sparing them each a second before continuing his brawl.

Naruto removed his kunai from the mans throat and let him get up, it only took split seconds for him to bolt to the man that had also been spared. Orochimaru cursed as Naruto went to help Sasuke once again. He was keeping his eyes on his opponents as well as the men in the distance. He then saw what he knew was bound to happen, the two ninja who had been spared ran to the carriage and dug around for the katana. Orochimaru summoned wind to bash the men away but he was then slammed in to by his first foe. Sasuke and Naruto defeated their ganged up on rival, but the entire way during the fight the Sannin could hear them arguing. They were working together but not well, he headed for the two thieves in the distance while Naruto and Sasuke bickered and fought. Orochimaru was cut off as Sasuke and Naruto were more distracted by one another than the enemies leaving the Sannin alone with them all. He glanced behind him to see the two ninja the blond had neglected running off with the artefact. He yelled for the other two to help him but they could hear nothing but their own debate.

"Are you blind?" Sasuke snapped.

"I said no, are you deaf!" Naruto snapped back. Orochimaru gave up on calling to them. He fought the last remaining rogues until he had killed them both. Breathless and tired he looked ahead to where he had seen the thieves run.

"We need to chase them," Orochimaru called to his supposed team mates, but they were completely absorbed in their personal conflict.

"You don't always have to be the one on top," Naruto snapped. "You have a bad habit of having to get the last hit."

"The only reason that bothers you Naruto is because you're too pathetic to keep up," Sasuke snapped.

"We're supposed to be a team, but you never listen to what I have to say," Naruto countered angrily.

"That's because what you say is never practical," Sasuke said. "And in case you haven't noticed every word that came out your mouth is hypocritical. The only reason you hate me coming out on top is because you want to be the one on top. And that's why I don't listen to your one sided plans Naruto."

"Come on, we're going to fail our first mission," Orochimaru pleaded anxiously. "I can't go after them on my own they may have back up."

The boys were standing close to one another, and the proximity only intensified the debate further. Sasuke shoved Naruto away to gain some distance, the blond took it as an attack and punched him in return. Then they lunged at one another. Orochimaru had been trying to gain their attention for the entire duration. He didn't want to go after the rogues alone, but it seemed as if he had no choice.

"Both of you stop," Orochimaru tried one last time, he then decided he had to ignore his cowardice thoughts and chase the men alone. He was gone in moments, the two brawling boys did not even notice.

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Orochimaru caught up to them, they were both alone holding the katana smugly as they spoke softly. He crept closer with a kunai drawn, if it was just the two of them he could kill the rogues with little effort. He was already tired, his young body not handling the usual strain he could. But he had no choice but to carry on. The blond and the Uchiha reminded him a lot of when Jiraiya and he had been on missions. Except generally the Sannin would back down, he would simply allow the other to say what he wanted to say. Then the white haired Sannin would feel bad and would rectify himself. The problem was there was no calm one between the fox child and Sasuke. It was two flames ready to burn brighter. Feeding one another when they should be trying to calm the other down. He took another step forwards but then felt someone grab his hair tightly. He yelped and spun around to free himself to find a large man his mask cracked to reveal his rugged face. His eyes were rather angry as he dragged the boy out from his hiding, Orochimaru put up a fight but the man was not as inexperienced as his allies. He roughly slammed the boy in to a tree and then shoved him to the floor before adding an extra kick for good measure. Orochimaru made a small sound of pain before trying to get up.

He hadn't sensed the man, but it was only one more enemy. As he tried to get up a kunai was sent at him and the blade buried itself deep in his arm. Before long three more men stepped out of the bushes. He was surrounded and they seemed to enjoy their tactics of sneak attacks. Orochimaru shakily tried to get to his feet but whenever he did a new face would ground him. He regretted coming in for the sword alone. Only two of the men present were worthwhile enemies. But that made the Sannin outnumbered. If he had his team he would have been fine, they could have handled the small extra add on ninja while he faced the real threats. As it stood he could not even attempt to get to the truly strong shinobi as he had others to contend with. The rogue Naruto had spared came up to the man who had the cracked mask and handed him the katana.

"There you go, we didn't kill the two men who had this. A female Konoha genin took them away," the man said somewhat apologetically. The man with the cracked mask nodded. He then held the edge of the blade to the boys throat. Orochimaru was still on the ground resting on one knee. He held his bleeding arm as he considered pulling the blade out from his flesh. He may bleed out, it felt far deeper than was safe. His frightened yet angered eyes met the man as the cold metal touched his neck. A thin line of blood trickled down as the man pushed the blade closer.

"What a foolish village. Sending out such weak ninja to guard such a valuable artefact," the man said coldly. He moved the sword away and took a step forwards, he bent down on one knee to be eye level with the genin. In a calculatingly slow manner he placed his hand around the handle of the kunai and purposefully twisted it out. Orochimaru whimpered from the pain, but he knew moving may force one of the men to act quickly to kill him. When the blade was out he sadistically laughed before driving it back in once more. He then tossed it to the floor after twisting it out again. The boy cried out despite wanting to keep his suffering to himself, he did not want them to have the satisfaction of his misery. Golden eyes frantically looked around, there were too many of them he panicked. He should have left the blade alone, he had been a fool to rush in alone. Why was the mission important to him anyway, he had passed many, it was not as if he were trying to prove a point. The men around the boy laughed, they seemed to think he was too weak to pay attention to. Orochimaru saw his opening, he could run, he had the ability to summon another serpent to force them away enough to grant him an opening. At the same time, the sword was being held carelessly. He could potentially grab it while they underestimated him.

The idea of the mission not being for nothing made him compelled to try, he had a plan on how he would ensure they could not simply steal the blade back from his team. He wasn't fond of the idea, but it was one he knew would work. As he had done with Kusangi, he could easily sheath the katana inside the mouth of his snake. It would then disappear along with the serpent, and they could not simply take it back by force. He considered it but the overhanging realization that he had no time to spare forced him to his feet. He summoned many serpents and the ambush of reptiles startled the men in to messing up. Orochimaru knocked in to the man with the katana and grabbed the sword. It sliced the palm of his hand as it slide across the sharp edge. The boy paid it no attention, he kept reminding himself that he was stronger than them, or more so he deluded himself into believing it. Truth be told he used to be stronger, now he was very much not. He did as he had planned and allowed the snake to consume the blade before vanishing. The man in the cracked mask did not seem to be frightened with the demonic display but instead seemed to be angered by it. The boy had planned to run, but in moments he was surrounded. He had retrieved the katana, that much he had succeeded in. However his plan of getting away proved futile as the men decapitated the snakes he summoned and grabbed hold of him.

"You better give us our artefact back you little brat," One man snapped. He shoved him to another man after roughly handling him. The man that now had the boy grabbed his wrist and twisted it painfully. They were clearly rather used to using force to get what they wanted or needed. He wasn't going to hand it over however, he knew they were unlikely to kill him, he had the sword and they could not get it if he was dead. He could wait it out until someone came to save him he thought. That was his thoughts at first, but he started to doubt his plan when the sun set and night befell the forest. He would soon wonder if betting on allies was a good plan after all.

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Kakashi found his way back to the genin and the carriage. The horses had long since broken free and galloped off. Sasuke and Naruto were tussling around on the floor, tiredly fighting one another in a angered fury. It took the copy ninja seconds to split them up, his worried eyes searched for any signs of the other two genin and the clients.  
"Sakura took the clients to safety," Sasuke said, he then realized it had been half an hour of the two of them fighting. He tried to recall what the Sannin had said when they were both ignoring him. "I think Orochimaru went after the rogues."  
"They have the sword?" Kakashi asked, he couldn't see any other reason the boy would run off after their foes. The boys nodded weakly. They were both out of breath and bruises covered their fatigued forms. The copy ninja kept his patience only because the mission was not yet over, and he could not bring any of his emotions to the surface until he had regrouped his students. "Which way did they go?"

"That way," Naruto and Sasuke said at the same time while pointing in two different directions. Kakashi was hardly keeping it together, he was given two very opposite answers. He needed to ensure the Sannin was not getting in to trouble. Sasuke was generally the more reliable source, he kept his eyes sharp while Naruto was prone to making foolish mistakes. That being said the blond cared about the serpent and the Uchiha very much did not. One of them could be lying, or one of them could simply be mistaken. It didn't help matters at all. He had to choose quickly so he decided he would follow Naruto's choice. Sasuke seemed slightly offended at the fact that he had chosen the other boy, he was rather forceful about them going the other way.

"Naruto is blind," Sasuke said. "He went that way I saw them go."

"You were too busy trying to prove me wrong to see anything," Naruto shot back rather smug about being trusted. Kakashi knew the Uchiha wanted to see the Sannin off the team, and he was revenge driven. He had no doubts he may in fact lie. They headed off the opposite way to where the Uchiha had offered, all but the Uchiha himself.

"Kakashi-sensei," he tried one last time. It was clear however that his past tendencies had made the copy ninja very doubtful about his words. He clenched his fist in annoyance, the Sannin could well enough be dead by the time they believed him.

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Orochimaru was kept near to the men as they waited for him to return what he had taken back. They had grown tired of tormenting and hurting him, and so they had entirely ignored his existence. They had made a fire in the cold night air, the boy was not allowed to move from two of the rogues side. He felt sick from blood loss and he could not manage to regenerate as he usually did. It was far too taxing a jutsu for his young and injured body. He sat with his legs to his chest feeling rather pitiful. He had been so close to achieving immortality until he had weakened himself by turning into a child. His long hair was messily falling around his face, the hairband having snapped in battle. One of the men looked over sympathetically. He was one of the more reserved members, and Orochimaru reminded himself that not all rogues were bad. He tended to group a person with the group they ran with, but perhaps there was more humanity in this ninja than the others.

He hoped he was right in assuming so. He shifted closer to him, closer to the warmth of the fire. One of the men who had been closer to him saw him move and kicked the small Sannin in the side. He whimpered, he already had a gash in the targeted area. He covered his head with his arms thinking the man may strike again but he never did.

"Don't over react you fuck," the more sympathetic rogue said, he had noticed the boy had tried to move across to him. He could tell the Sannin wanted to be by the safer looking man, in other words, he was scared and sought out some form of protection. The sympathetic rogue aided the child to his feet to allow him to move closer. Most of the rogues looked amused, some seemed to be passive about his action.

"Someone's going soft," One amused rogue muttered. "Want to adopt him too?"  
"We either kill him or we take him back with us. There is no need to abuse a kid," The rogue countered.

"Take him back? He does want to adopt him," another rogue snickered.

"Take him back because he has the katana, grow up will you," a new rogue said to aid the sympathetic one. The conversation ended there, evidently the last man to speak held a lot of the groups authority.

The fire flickered in the dark sky as little embers glided through the air to settle and burn out on the forest floor. Orochimaru heard movement, none of the other ninja did. Perhaps they were not on high alert like he was in his paranoid and frightened state. He looked to the sound and saw a small figure crouching down in the bushes, then two bright unmistakable red glows appeared. It was the sharingan, and he only knew one Uchiha alive who possessed it. Sasuke crept closer to the group and the Sannin wanted to warn him off. They would over power the Uchiha as they had the serpent. If he was smart he would have a plan, and since he was a known genius Orochimaru did not cause a scene or try and communicate to him. They had made eye contact, Sasuke knew the other boy was aware of his presence. The men carried on talking until the black haired boy threw kunai at them, stepping out of the bushes in a blur. The rogues were on their feet as they rushed the boy. One man roughly held Orochimaru's wrist and tried to drag him away knowing the Uchiha had come for his team mate. The Sannin summoned snakes to bite in to his flesh so he was forced to let go. As the rogues got to the Uchiha the boy turned to smoke. He had been a shadow clone the entire time.

Orochimaru felt someone grab his wrists again but this time it was a much lighter and smaller grasp. Sasuke pulled him into the forest as he ran, he had merely used the clone as a decoy, he had never planned on fighting. Orochimaru was grateful, they would have lost if he had. The forest floor slipped out from under them as they hurried away. The men took chase but it was easier for smaller bodies to cut through the woods. The two genin slammed on breaks and hide behind a large tree trunk breathing rapidly. Orochimaru looked over at the Uchiha, he hadn't expected his help, and he did not know where the blade was. He had come for the other boy not a mission success.

"Thanks," Orochimaru said softly, still panting.

"Quiet snake," he said equally as softly, he didn't really want the other to hush up because he thought the enemies could hear, he merely felt awkward receiving the others gratitude. He and the pale boy had started on rough terms, but for some reason he had felt truly bad about letting him die. Unlike Naruto, he had not been oblivious to the snake summoners attempt to save the mission. He had let him go alone hoping he would die. When the fight subsided he had regretted that choice, he had been terrified that his wish had come true. Sasuke looked at the smaller boy with a sense of relief. He was glad he had not gotten his way for once.

They sat beside one another for what felt like a few hours, merely staying silent to ensure they were not found. Someone moved behind the tree they hid by and they both recognized the calming chakra. Kakashi bent down to them with a look of worry on his face, he was relieved to see they were both alive. He breathed out and then picked the Sannin up in his arms, he could see his injuries were rather bad. Sasuke could stand on his own so he did as he followed his teacher back. Orochimaru didn't complain, he allowed the white haired male to gently pick him up and carry his weakened body to the nearest village. He was still bleeding badly, although Sasuke had helped him tie a makeshift bandage around his side and arm to eliminate the odds of bleeding out for the time being. Orochimaru was comfortable in the man's arms despite his injuries, so he allowed himself to succumb to sleep. It had been a long mission, but he had the sword, the men did not. They were still out there though he realized so his golden eyes opened again to scan the area. Kakashi noticed it and broke away from the conversation he was having with Sasuke, he had been apologizing to him for not listening and praising him for saving the black haired boy.  
"I found the rogues before I found you two," Kakashi reassured the youngest member, Orochimaru was put at ease hearing the copy ninja had made good work of the men. He felt slightly bad for the man who had saved him, but it was unfortunately how the life of a shinobi worked.

It wasn't long before the Sannin fell asleep once more.

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"Are you awake? Oro-chan- are you- ow-" Naruto could be heard saying. Orochimaru opened his dazed eyes and waited until he could focus on things in the room. He instantly recognised that he was in a hospital bed, and he could make out his entire team minus Kakashi. Sasuke leant on a wall looking out the window, still trying to pretend he did not care when the game was up. Sakura looked angrily at Naruto for bugging the other boy before he had awoken.

"You'll be released today if you tell the medics you feel alright," Sakura said softly.

"I think I should be fine, where are we?" Orochimaru asked as he sat up slowly, he could feel his every wound pull as he did so. The other genin with the exception of Sasuke winced as the boy did, they felt his injury for him as they had seen how deep his wounds were.

"The village our clients stay at, Kakashi-sensei is with them now apologizing for the loss of the artefact," Sasuke said.

"We didn't lose it," Orochimaru remembered swiftly, "I got it back."

He tried to get to his feet and Naruto moved forwards to aid him, the boy was off balanced and shaky and if the blond were to move away he would likely fall.

"I wouldn't stand yet," Sasuke said, he moved over to Naruto. Sakura watched as the two older boys helped the younger one stand. It was clear he wouldn't make a journey over to the client and Kakashi. Naruto then decided he would give the smaller boy a lift on his back, Orochimaru first protested saying that he could simply hand the sword to them and they could go, however both Sasuke and Naruto denied him that.

"You got the sword, all on your own, you should hand it in," Naruto said.

"It was a team effort, I would have been dead with it if Sasuke had not come for me," Orochimaru said.

"We wouldn't have lost it if we were not stubborn," Sasuke said softly, he then helped Naruto get the boy on his back allowing no more room for debate. Orochimaru nervously held on around his neck as he was carried once more. They didn't sign out as they were supposed to, they were still young and flighty. They forgot about rules when excitement overrode their other senses. It wasn't long before the boys saw their teacher. He was passive, the man he was speaking to was not.

He yelled at the copy ninja, telling him that failure was not an option. Although both clients were safe the man was enraged his katana was not. Kakashi had never failed any of his missions in his adult life, so he didn't exactly know how to handle the man.

"Our genin are still learning, that is why it is cheaper to hire them," a woman nearby said, she had a Konoha headband on as she also lead a three man team. Orochimaru did not recognise her. "If you wanted a guaranteed success you should have hired Jonin."

"I had one Jonin on my team," the man bit back at her.

"His concern is his genin, not some artefact. Young shinobi have to gain experience somewhere." She said again moving off with her three young shinobi.

"We apologize again," Kakashi said, passing the woman he likely new a look of thanks before returning to spot his team.

"We have it!" Naruto yelled triumphantly.

Orochimaru bit his finger to draw blood before placing it on the ground once lowered, a large snake slipped out from the smoke and upon command revealed the blade from its mouth. The man was both shocked and relieved. He did not make a move to take the sword, the serpent was too close for his liking.

Orochimaru realized it instantly and moved to the floor when Naruto helped him off his back. He picked up the sword and handed it to the man, the serpent who had safe kept it looked rather pleased with itself. As soon as the katana was in the man's grasp the summon returned to its world. Kakashi glanced at the Sannin with an impressed stare, one that also held some gratitude in it. Many genin failed their first mission, however it was always better to start off on a good note. Naruto had a large grin on his face, while Sasuke masked his smile instead allowing it to reflect in his eyes. Sakura giggled softly as she slunk closer to the Uchiha, she was happy her team was getting along again. She had decided she rather liked the snake summoner, and she was glad to see the black haired boy felt the same way despite their small fight. The man had no more words to be angry about, it had been a success despite him having paid for the genin instead of Jonin. There was little more the copy ninja could be grateful for, all he wanted was his team to get along, to work as a unit and to care for one another as individuals and not as a mission pawn. The white haired Jonin had promised the Hokage they would be back on that day, he did not want him to worry so he convinced his tired genin to push for the last stretch. They had rested for while the Sannin was in the hospital, that had been enough time.

Orochimaru was still injured and rather shaky looking, so the copy ninja picked him up, he had done his share and no one expected him to be able to walk any time soon. They returned in different spirits. On the way there his team had been divided, they had split themselves into two parts and that had created a tense rift. Now the genin spoke all as one, Orochimaru joined the conversation from Kakashi's arms while the Jonin merely listened in as the children spoke, retelling their views on the mission and the rogues until finally the topic diverged in to more innocent opinions of life in general. There was a warm breeze blowing against them as team seven arrived at the gates of Konoha, the guards looked up, they were late and they had almost filed them as a concern. After being welcomed home, the two guards once again made a point of ignoring the Sannin, this time however the other three genin did not let it go. Orochimaru and Kakashi didn't have to intervene as the three other members seemed to have it well under control.

"You idiots must be blind because you missed one of us," Naruto said, his final parting words to the men. Sasuke's intense stare didn't make it much better, and Sakura was a force to be challenged in her own right. It was safe to say that for the next few missions the team was greeted, all of them. The men were extra polite and made a conscious effort to include the younger boy.

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Orochimaru sat at the windowsill as the sun slowly lowered itself to the horizon, he was always unsettled when he watched the time of day pass by. Most found it beautiful and at times so did he, however more often than not it reminded him of how fleeting everything was, of how there was a deadline. He got to his feet, he needed a distraction. The boy was still living with Kakashi, but at present the white haired male was showering. Orochimaru hated to use that to his advantage but if he did not sneak out the house the other man would follow him. Pakkun was asleep much to his luck, and so he tied a warm cloak over his kimono and quietly exited the house. The boy had one thing he had wanted to do for a long time, something he was denied due to being an enemy of the leaf. He moved through the streets with his hood drawn over his head to avoid any eyes. Thankfully where he was going was likely to be rather isolated, no one ventured there often.

His small form ducked around people who hurriedly moved around in the streets until at last he reached the place he had wanted to come to. The graves all marked similar places, but more were added since his time in Konoha. He didn't have to have a good memory to clearly remember where he needed to go to find the names he wished to see. With light steps the pale boy reached his parents graves, their names faded but still visible. Golden eyes read the text several times, he had wanted to pay his parents respect for a long time, but he was denied access to the graveyard and it was far too risky to come when he had been a rogue. A light wind blew past and swept the hood off his head revealing his tail of long black hair. He brushed any strands that blocked his view, he would forever miss the two ninja buried just in front of him.

"I thought you'd come here eventually," a voice said slightly mockingly. "Orochimaru-sama."

The boy spun around to meet the medics calculating gaze, he did not seem to hold as much respect as he previously had. Orochimaru supposed that was to be expected. The Sannin braced himself for a fight, despite his young features golden eyes narrowed in a challenging manner.

The Sannin would rather die than allow Kabuto the satisfaction of his young fear, he would bury that emotion inside him, he would deny his body the right to its own instinct.

"I'm young, I am not weak Kabuto," Orochimaru said, his voice was tragically small.

"I'm sure you aren't, at least not for your age I suppose," Kabuto said dismissively. "The Chunin exams are coming up soon, the plan will be carried out. We will attack the stadium, we will kill your teacher."

"You won't win against him," Orochimaru said. "The plan will not work without me. You'd be out of your depth."

"That's not true, it's all about ambush is it not. I have had to tweak the strategy a bit, but we will do fine without you. I had a feeling you would go soft once you were welcomed back here," Kabuto said. "I told your men- or should I say my men, that this was your will. They will come here on my command and they will do as we first planned. It's a pity you have done this to yourself, you are thinking like a child. Your former self would have been pleased by this news, you look horrified by it."

"They are not your men, and you will not harm anyone here," Orochimaru said. It was obvious his care for his new team was playing in to this decision, he tried to redirect that. "I need their help to return to my normal state."

"I will attain Sasuke for you," Kabuto said. "Then you can change bodies with him, it won't make much of a difference. A small change to the plan you might say."

"I don't want the sharingan anymore," Orochimaru said, at least not from Sasuke he thought. The other boy had saved him, and perhaps it was his inner child talking, but he would never allow that to fall away into betrayal.

"And why is that?" Kabuto asked seemingly already aware of the answer. Even young the serpent knew how to lie.

"I have discovered a form of immortality, if I work on what I have now I can attain what I'd like, I do not need the sharingan for power. I will get it from my experiments," Orochimaru lied.

"Then perhaps I should take the sharingan for myself, if you don't want it anymore," Kabuto said pushing his glasses back on to his face as he gazed at the boy calculatingly. "The plan proceeds, this was my warning. I suggest you stay away from the exam or you may be killed in the crossfire."

"I could expose your plans, I don't need to know the details to ruin it," Orochimaru said.

"Children should not speak to adults this way Oro-chan," Kabuto mocked, haven evidently been spying on the boy. "If my secret is exposed, your secret will be exposed. You'd hate for the Hokage to find out your true identity. It'll be awfully hard getting their help when they want your head."

It was all he had to say to silence the boy, he was still trapped by his young bodies inability to face such challenges. He did not want the village to know, to come after him. They could easily kill him and he wasn't sure if Kakashi would help him. He could do nothing more than watch Kabuto's retreating back, he could do nothing but stare with shaken golden eyes. His new friends and allies versus his secret and life. It was a call he wasn't able to make easily, and yet he clung to silence. It would inevitably mean he had chosen himself. That guilt ate at him, made him feel as if life was once again trying to crush him like walls closing in. He forgot to pay any proper respects to his parents as he raced home, he would tell Kakashi- but then, it would be up to the Jonin. His life, his secret. He could not put such faith in the man, he had chosen the other genin before. Never had he known guilt to be so violent than when he tried to go to sleep that night. Kakashi had asked where he had been, but upon seeing how shaken up he looked he softened. Naturally the Sannin had lied, had said villagers had chased him, that he had just gone for a walk. Kakashi accepted his words as true, that added to the guilt. That trust, that gesture of belief. They went to bed, all the while Kakashi thinking it was the villagers harsh words that had resulted in the boy shaking in the bed. Kakashi placed a reassuring hand on the Sannin as they lay beside one another.

"It's fine, don't worry about them," Kakashi said. Orochimaru's small form drew into himself as he lay, still trying to establish a plan.

Authors note: Oh my gosh the delay! I'm sorry Vampiredoll666! I'll try keep up to date, but life has been hectically busy… hope you enjoyed the update!


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